The national anthem echoes throughout the stadium as athletes line up to race. For junior Anna Cockrell, standing still before she’s about to run is never an option. Instead, she showcases another equally impressive talent that hasn’t yet won her a world championship — singing.

“If the national anthem plays, I’m going to sing along,” Cockrell said. “What do you want me to do? Just stand there?”

She was born with a powerful voice that her high energy and extroverted nature won’t silence.

As a hurdler and relay runner for the USC women’s indoor and outdoor track and field team, Cockrell is a proven champion and leader. But she has only continued to demand more of herself.

Growing up

Cockrell was born in San Francisco and spent her childhood moving between North Carolina, Maryland and Michigan, before settling down for high school in Waxhaw, North Carolina. Throughout all the moving around, one part of the Cockrell family remained constant: an emphasis on education.

Their dinner placemats had the presidents of the United States and state capitals listed, and bedtime consisted of prayer and an educational component, like teaching the kids to spell their names. As they grew older, watching “Meet the Press” and “60 Minutes” every Sunday was a Cockrell family tradition, and Anna took naturally to politics. At 10 years old, she was a faithful reader of the Wall Street Journal.

“It was just to always be aware of what’s going on in your country and how laws and what happens in politics determines what happens in the world,” Cockrell’s mother Serena said. “The more aware you are of what’s going on, the better decisions you can make.”

Cockrell read anything and everything she could, from books to online articles. The three Cockrell children would sit at the kitchen table and do homework every night, and even as the youngest sibling, Cockrell knew everyone’s answers. Her older brother and eventual Duke University graduate, Ross, would ask her the definitions of words and consult her on comma placements.

“She was a walking encyclopedia,” Serena said.

Despite constantly reading, Cockrell was always more of an auditory learner, picking up piano by ear and only fooling her parents into thinking she could read sheet music. She thrived in voice lessons, devoted time to musical theatre and even studied classical semi-operatic Italian music for a short time.

And she was just as physically active as she was mentally, always running around and never sitting still.

“She’s the bulldozer in the family with the biggest heart,” Serena said.

At first, people might not recognize the truth in this paradox, but to anyone who spends time with Cockrell, it’s obvious.

“She can come across as tough, but she really is very soft inside,” Cockrell’s father Keith said without hesitation. “She might seem intimidating because of her stature and her performance in the classroom and on the track, but the reality is she has the biggest heart imaginable.”

Competing for USA

Cockrell’s foundation in education translated well into her athletic career. According to her high school coach and now-close friend Carol Lawrence, the desire to learn separates Cockrell from other athletes.

“She’s one of those persons that’s a student of her event,” Lawrence said. “She doesn’t just go and do, she actually learns what she needs to do to get better at that event. She’ll study her own skill and she’ll study other people just to get that one fix to make herself a little bit better.”

Lawrence felt like she could push Cockrell all the way to the world stage.

“She was one of the few persons I’ve ever coached that, if I tell her what I’d like, she would look at [me] deeply, and [I] can see the wheels turning,” Lawrence said. “She will analyze everything you tell her, and she would fix it right there and then.”

This led Cockrell onto the USA Under-20 team in 2016, where she won the world championship for 400-meter hurdles in Poland.

“[Lawrence] just had a huge vision for what she wanted me to do,” Cockrell said. “It wasn’t good enough to be a state champion, wasn’t good enough to be a national champion. As soon as I got with her my freshman year, we were going for USA teams.”

The national team was carefully composed of women all over the country, some who had competed against Cockrell and others she had never met. But that didn’t stop her natural leadership skills from shining through. Cockrell’s loud voice, kind personality and undeniably contagious smile broke the awkward silence among the new group. She introduced herself to anyone she hadn’t known and made a point to have dinner with the long-distance runners. She made people feel comfortable, a trait that would earn her captain honors of the USA world championship team and eventually USC’s national title team.

Cockrell is unapologetic about her dominant personality — she knows she can apply it positively.

“I just don’t do well being quiet,” Cockrell said.

Training as a Trojan

In her first 400-meter hurdle competition for USC, Cockrell took the fourth spot on the school’s all-time list and set a freshman school record. She set another freshman school record for 60-meter hurdles in the NCAA championships at the end of the year and took second in 400-meter hurdles, finishing the season with Pac-12 Women’s Freshman of the Year and All-American honors.

She decorated her sophomore year with an indoor national championship — a feat barely accomplished but nonetheless entirely deserved.

“It was the most emotional three days of life — ever,” Cockrell emphasized.

She competed in 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles and 4×400-meter relay. With four athletes in the 100-meter hurdles, USC expected to advance two runners into the finals, if not all four. But none of them made it past the first day.

From that moment, everything seemed to fall apart. Their opportunities for points were limited from the start, and they had worked out what would need to happen to win it all, but it just didn’t seem feasible at that point. Until Mady Richards, now graduated, swung the momentum in the Trojans’ favor by placing in long jump and surprising those who had calculated the possible outcomes.

At the end of the third day, the 2018 women’s outdoor national title came down to one race: the 4×400-meter relay.

“We knew we were hands down the best team out there,” Cockrell said. “It was going to be a fight, but we knew if we could all just do our job … we were going to be fine.”

USC’s competition had strategically stacked their fastest runners early to build a lead that would be impossible for sprinter Kendall Ellis, who graduated in 2018, to overcome in the last leg of the race. Cockrell received the baton from current junior Kyra Constantine before running her best leg all season. With a solid hand-off to sprinter Deanna Hill, Cockrell collapsed onto the grass, confident that they had clinched it based off Hill’s positioning.

But before she could start celebrating, Hill and Ellis bobbled the baton in the hand-off, putting Ellis far behind the other schools’ final leg runners. Cockrell began crying on the track as she watched the national title escape.

Until it didn’t. Through her tears, Cockwell saw Ellis make an aggressive cut on Kentucky, and she realized Ellis had a chance.

She didn’t know what would happen until mid-way through the back stretch when she was sure Ellis was about to win it. And this time, she had it right.

The three minutes, 27 seconds and 45 milliseconds of emotional chaos that it took to cross the finish line and clinch the national championship was representative of the rainy, freezing cold rollercoaster they had ridden throughout the meet.

“It was just exhausting in the best possible way,” Cockrell said. “It was really special and something I’ll never forget.”

As a junior, Cockrell is in her second season as USC’s captain. While her admirable relatability to her teammates hasn’t changed, her leadership role has shifted. Being elected captain as a sophomore was the ultimate recognition and an honor that she didn’t take lightly — for Cockrell, it meant an opportunity for growth.

“It was kind of finding the balance,” Cockrell said of her sophomore season. “Yes, I am the captain. But how do I act as a captain without going too far and without making the juniors and seniors, who have been around longer than me, [feel] uncomfortable?”

She took more of a backseat and let the tough words that needed to be said fall to the senior captains. This year, Cockrell is stepping into the role she’s accustomed to as an active and vocal leader, but she’s still working on finding a way to help her teammates acknowledge a mistake and realize it’s not the end of the world.

“Some leaders have to yell, but she doesn’t have to,” sophomore hurdler and sprinter Chanel Brissett said. “She’ll pull you to the side and have a conversation with you, and you’ll get what she says.”

When she’s not singing and clapping to pump her teammates up, Cockrell thinks about her intersectional identity as a woman of color and athlete at USC. She makes a point to attend other women’s athletic events on campus and talk to female athletes about their season and training.

“I want all women’s sports to get their due, to get coverage, respect [and] monetary compensation,” Cockrell said. “I don’t know how I’m able to affect that at this point, but [I’m] just putting myself out there, expressing my ideas and lifting up my teammates and other women.”

Future feats

Cockrell’s interest in politics never wavered throughout high school, where she participated in Get Out the Vote initiatives and voter registration drives, inspiring her to become a communication major and political science minor at USC. She discovered more about the field when she volunteered on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s re-election campaign and Marshall Tuck’s campaign for California state superintendent.

“I like interacting with people,” Cockrell said. “It’s kind of annoying to call people and be in peoples’ face, but it’s fun at the same time.”

Even though Cockrell matriculated at USC with dreams of becoming the next Rachel Maddow, she decided to take her planning and people skills into forward-facing politics where she can interact with both candidates and constituents.

“If I need to talk about anything politics with [Anna], I need to do research first,” Lawrence said. “I have to do research on any topic before I mention anything to her, because she is so sharp that it’s scary. She’s so intellectual.”

After finishing her bachelor’s degree this semester, she will go on to graduate school in the Price School for Public Policy, finishing out her collegiate track career with one more year before, ideally, running professionally.

“I’m at the point where I really want to listen to my body and run for as long as it makes sense and it makes me happy,” Cockrell said. “We’ll see what my body and my mind want to do.”

Cockrell hopes for the fairytale ending — running in three Olympics and calling it a career when the Games return to L.A. in 2028. Judging by her track record in achieving goals, 2028 seems entirely possible.

“Anna’s one of the most disciplined people that you’ll come across,” Keith said. “To this day, she writes her goals on a whiteboard at the start of every year.”

After making some money on the circuit, she wants to retire her athletic career and work in politics. Even when Cockrell’s muscles have been overworked and given out, her warmth, kindness and dominant voice will carry her strengths to new fields and heights.

“She has all the time in the world,” Lawrence said. “There’s so much more to her life right now than just track.”

]]>Track and field proves its prowess once againhttp://dailytrojan.com/2019/02/12/track-and-field-proves-its-prowess-once-again/
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 08:33:29 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=136194The Trojans secured four victories over two days in the Tyson Invitational.

The Trojan track and field team continued its dominant start to the 2019 season this weekend at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. Pitted against stiff competition from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences, the Trojans compiled four first-place finishes and rewrote the USC track and field record books.

Sophomore hurdler Cameron Samuel secured the first of the Trojans’ top-three finishes over the course of the weekend, earning third place in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 47.46 seconds.

Three Trojans qualified for the finals of the women’s 60-meter hurdles. Sophomore sprinter and hurdler Chanel Brissett followed her first-place finish at the Texas Tech Invitational last week with another victory in Fayetteville, setting a personal record and earning the second-fastest time in USC history, with a time of 7.9 seconds. Junior Anna Cockrell and redshirt senior Dior Hall finished in sixth and seventh place with times of 8.15 and 8.17, respectively.

In the men’s 60-meter hurdles, freshman Ayden Owens set consecutive personal bests and USC freshman records in both the qualifying round and finals. Owen’s final time of 7.83 seconds was good for sixth place, both at the meet and in USC history for the event.

USC extended its prolific sprinting results to the women’s 60-meter dash. Sprinters sophomore TeeTee Terry and freshman Lanae-Tava Thomas both advanced to the final round of the event despite a crowded field. Terry clocked in at 7.25 seconds to earn a third-place finish, while Thomas finished seventh with a time of 7.36 seconds.

Freshman sprinter Brendon Stewart added to USC’s tally of top-three finishes, as his time of 6.64 seconds earned him second place in the men’s 60-meter dash.

Junior distance runner Chloe Berry burst ahead on the final straightaway of the women’s one-mile race to complete a come-from-behind win by a thin margin of 0.37 seconds.

A pair of Trojan freshmen registered impressive finishes in the women’s 800-meter race. Freshman distance runner Jemima Russell took home first place while breaking the USC freshman record for the event with a time of 2:05.90, and fellow freshman distance runner Alyssa Brewer, the previous USC freshman record-holder, clocked in at 2:07.88 to finish fourth.

On the men’s side, junior Matthew Myrtue set a new personal record and climbed to sixth on the USC records list in the men’s 800-meter race by registering a 1:51.64 finish.

Junior sprinter Kyra Constantine helped the Trojans end the first day of competition on a high note, securing USC’s fourth first-place finish of the meet with a time of 53.07 in the women’s 400-meter race.

On Saturday, the Trojans sustained their success at the invitational with strong results in the field events and relays. Sophomore jumper Cassidy Palka tied for third place and moved up the rankings to eighth in USC history by clearing the 1.67-meter bar in the women’s high jump.

The women’s 4×400-meter relay team passed the University of Florida’s team on the anchor leg to finish in first place with a time of 3:30.43, while the men’s 4×400 meter relay team clocked in at 3:06.78 to come in fourth.

With the No. 2 women’s team and No. 11 men’s team nationally, USC aims to build off last weekend’s impressive showing with the beginning of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships in Seattle on Feb. 22.

]]>Track and field shines in second meet of seasonhttp://dailytrojan.com/2019/01/29/track-and-field-shines-in-second-meet-of-season/
Tue, 29 Jan 2019 08:47:06 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=135718Both the men’s and women’s teams had multiple winners in Texas over the weekend.

Redshirt senior hurdler Dior Hall was one of many Trojans to set a personal record in Lubbock, Texas last weekend, finishing tenth in the women’s 200-meter with a time of 23.70. (Photo courtesy of John McGillen/USC Athletics)

Following an impressive weekend of competition at the Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., the Trojan track and field team went to Lubbock, Texas, last weekend to compete in the Texas Tech Invitational.

Up against Big-12 and Pac-12 competition, the Trojans succeeded with eight victories from the event.

The crop of freshmen has competed in impressive fashion from the start of the season, with two more first place finishes coming from Trojan newcomers this weekend after 13 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational. Distance runner Alyssa Brewer ran a time of 2:06.48 in the women’s 800-meter to secure the win, defeating last year’s NCAA champion Sammie Watson of Texas A&M.

Brewer’s time was good for third on the Trojans’ all-time list. Freshman hurdler Ayden Owens collected his second first place finish in as many weeks with a victory in the men’s heptathlon, setting a school record with a point total of 5,642.

Junior distance runner Isaiah Jewett set a USC record with a time of 1:46.91 in the men’s 800-meter, although he finished second in the event.

Three sophomores set personal records at the meet. Sprinter TeeTee Terry continued her streak of dominance, winning the women’s 60-meter dash with a personal record of 7.15 seconds to add to her two victories last week. Terry has yet to be defeated this season.

Sophomore Kaelin Roberts set a personal record in the women’s 400-meter, running a time of 52.25 seconds. Sophomore hurdler Chanel Brissett provided another first place finish for the Trojans in the women’s 60-meter hurdle with her personal record of 7.98 seconds.

Sophomore jumper Earnest Sears duplicated his impressive performance from the prior weekend to finish first in the men’s high jump, once again clearing the same personal record height of 7 feet 5.25 inches to secure the win on his first try. Once again, Sears came close to clearing the next height of 7 feet 6.25 inches, though he ultimately fell short.

A clearance at that height would give Sears the USC record in the event, surpassing the record of 7 feet 6 inches held by redshirt senior jumper Randall Cunningham and USC alumnus Jesse Williams. Sears has been dominant in the early season, and already seems to be on the verge of taking a shot at that mark. It’ll be a storyline worth monitoring throughout the long remainder of the season.

Senior jumper Margaux Jones has also impressed in back-to-back weeks, winning the women’s long jump for the second competition in a row with a 20-9.25. That mark represents a huge step of progress for Jones, who hadn’t cracked the 20-foot mark since last indoor season, as she struggled with injuries during the outdoor campaign. Her showing on Saturday is a promising sign for the rest of her final season as a Trojan.

The Trojans collected their final victory of the competition with a first place finish in the women’s 4×400 relay, with a team of juniors Anna Cockrell and Kyra Constantine, freshman Bailey Lear and sophomore Kaelin Roberts. The quartet managed a time of 3:31.25, winning the event.

With impressive showings in the first two weeks of competition in their pocket, the Trojans will look to continue their success next weekend at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. It will be their first time facing SEC opposition this season.

]]>Track and field continues its early-season dominancehttp://dailytrojan.com/2019/01/24/track-and-field-continues-its-early-season-dominance/
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 08:23:38 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=135584Both the men’s and women’s squads had standout team and individual performances.

Both the men’s and women’s track and field seasons started off with a bang at last weekend’s Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. The Trojans won a total of 13 events across the two-day meet, with impressive performances across the board. The invitational saw strong showings from both old faces and newcomers alike, a promising sign for the Trojans’ season.

USC racked up six victories on the first day of competition. Sophomore jumper Earnest Sears finished in first place in the high jump with a clearance of 7 feet 5.25 inches — a feat he managed on his first attempt at that height. That jump was Sears’ personal record and good for third on USC’s all-time leaderboard, behind only redshirt senior jumper Randall Cunningham and former star Jesse Williams.

Later in the day, the Trojans secured another victory with senior jumper Margaux Jones, who returned from an injury-plagued 2018 campaign. Jones won the women’s long jump with a leap of 19-11.00.

USC also captured first place finishes in both the men’s and women’s 600-meter race, even though USC athletes generally don’t compete in the event. Junior distance runner Isaiah Jewett, a transfer from UC Irvine, secured a win for USC in the men’s 600 in his first race as a Trojan, with a time of 1:15.95. Another newcomer gave the Trojans a first place finish in the women’s 600: freshman distance runner Jemima Russell’s time of 1:29.25 was good for a win as well.

Redshirt junior Nathan Bultman picked up another first place finish for the Trojans in the weight throw, setting a personal record with his winning toss of 67 feet 8 inches. Sophomore runner TeeTee Terry, looking to build off of a tremendous freshman year, impressed in a big way as she won the women’s 200 dash with a time of 23.31 seconds. Look for her to become one of the Trojans’ biggest names in track going forward this season.

On Saturday, the Trojans topped Friday’s win total with seven victories. Terry continued her dominance on the second day, running a 7.22 to win the women’s 60-meter dash. On the heels of Russell’s victory the previous day, another freshman, hurdler Ayden Owens, won his first event as a Trojan (the 60-meter hurdles) with a time of 7.94 seconds. The Trojans captured a victory in the women’s 60 hurdles as well — sophomore Chanel Brissett’s time of 8.07 earned her a personal record.

USC also swept both 400-meter races, with sophomore hurdler Cameron Samuel running a personal record 47.94 to win the men’s event and sophomore sprinter Kaelin Roberts running a 52.54 to win the women’s. Redshirt junior thrower and co-captain Matthew Katnik, coming off of a strong 2018 season, won his first event of the year in the men’s shot put.

The final USC victory of the invitational came from the women’s 4×400 relay team, comprising freshmen Bailey Lear, Lanae-Tava Thomas and Alyssa Brewer, and junior Kyra Constantine, who won their race with a time of 3:40.90.

With a near-ideal start to the season now in their back pocket, the Trojans will set their sights on the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock this Friday and Saturday. They’ll compete against stronger competition than they faced in last week’s meet, with multiple Big-12 schools set to attend. The Trojans’ performance at the meet will deliver a clearer picture of what to expect from this squad for the remainder of the season.

]]>Track and field looks to build on a successful seasonhttp://dailytrojan.com/2019/01/17/track-and-field-looks-to-build-on-a-successful-season/
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 09:40:43 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=135305Both the women’s and men’s will have to replace crucial contributors this season.

Sophomore jumper Earnest Sears earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships by placing seventh in the high jump. (Photo courtesy of John McGillen/USC Athletics)

The Trojan track and field teams return to action this Friday when they compete in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.

Last season saw the Women of Troy secure their place as the best unit in the country — they clinched the national championship title. Kendall Ellis’ effort in the final leg of the 4×400 gave the Trojan women an improbable come-from-behind victory, and with it, their second national title. The men’s team also had an incredible season, finishing fourth in the nation with a record-breaking performance in the 4×400 relay.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will have to cope with the departure of their best performers from last year, as sprinters Kendall Ellis and Michael Norman have moved on from the team. Both were crucial in 2018, securing numerous individual victories and leading the Trojans to great team success.

Norman was arguably the best athlete in collegiate track and field last year. He was rewarded with the prestigious Bowerman trophy, an award that is presented annually to the best performer in the sport. Norman was a force all year long, dominating in the 400-meter dash as well as in the 4×400-meter relay.

He broke the indoor world record for the 400-meter dash early in the season, reaching a blistering time of 44.52 seconds, and his dominance in the event carried through every meet of the season. Norman went on to win first place in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a time of 43.61 — a collegiate record — also helping the men’s 4×400 team win the event with a time of 2:59:00, another collegiate record. Norman made the decision to go pro in July, though he will continue his studies at USC to complete his degree.

Ellis’ departure is also a huge blow to the team, as she was a Bowerman semifinalist herself. Along with her remarkable performance in the 4×400, Ellis took second place in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 50.19 and was named a first-team outdoor All-American for the second time. She set a USA indoor record in the women’s 400-meter dash in her first-place finish, running an incredible 50.34 to secure her title. Ellis also won an outdoor Pac-12 title in the 400-meter dash.

The departures of Ellis and Norman, along with other members of last year’s team like Bowerman finalist Rai Benjamin, will undoubtedly hurt. However, the Trojans still have a roster loaded with talented athletes.

Redshirt senior All-American high jumper Randall Cunningham will return for his final season after winning the 2018 indoor high jump title with a clearance of 7-foot-6. A fractured tibia cut Cunningham’s season short and held him out for the season’s outdoor half.

Sophomore All-American sprinter Twanisha Terry will also look to improve on a tremendous freshman season, in which she set a USC record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.99. Named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2018, Terry also earned First Team All-American honors in both the 100-meter dash and the 4×100 relay.

Redshirt senior Matthew Katnik will enter his fourth season as a thrower. His father was a center for USC football (1986-87). (Photo courtesy of USC Athletics)

USC track and field released the 2019 schedule on Tuesday for both the indoor and outdoor teams featuring both a number of repeat appearances from previous years as well as a few new competitions for the Trojans to put their talent on display.

The indoor season kicks off for the Men and Women of Troy in Albuquerque, N.M. at the Dr. Martin Luther King Invitational, an event in which USC took home 17 top-three finishes, including seven victories combined between the men and women’s squads.

In the following weeks, the Trojans will make a few visits to colleges as they will compete in the Texas Tech Invitational and return to the Tyson Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas. In Fayetteville, Ark. last year, USC took first in four different events, including an impressive performance by senior Randall Cunningham, who won the men’s high jump after he cleared 2.25 meters in his first jump.

The University of Washington will again serve as the site for the MPSF Indoor Championships in late February. In last season’s final event before NCAAs, USC managed to take team titles for both the men’s and women’s teams, comfortably beating out UCLA, Stanford, Oregon and 15 other squads from various schools.

At this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Trojans will look to build off their massive success in 2018 when USC broke three American and two world records at the tournament. At the center of these records was Michael Norman, who managed to break the world record in both the men’s 400m as well as the 4x400m relay. As the lone returning member of that historic relay team, sophomore Zach Shinnick will have high expectations for himself once again when the Trojans take center stage in early March.

While the indoor track and field schedule is packed with early season storylines, the outdoor slate promises to be just as exciting. To kick off the season, USC will host the Trojan Invitational, an event which resulted in 11 wins for its athletes a year ago including two for current sophomore Chanel Brissett, who was victorious in both the 100m hurdles and the 100m dash.

The following week, the Trojans will travel to Miami, Fla. to again compete in the Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge. After hosting last season, as well as taking home six wins each on the men’s and women’s sides, USC will look to compete against elite schools such as Ohio State and Ole Miss.

The Power 5 event will also mark the final time that the Trojans travel east of Tucson, Ariz. before the NCAA championship, as the remainder of their schedule keeps the team very close to home. Most notably, the Men and Women of Troy will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays in Torrance, Calif., where the team set two school records in 2018. It will also play host to the USC-UCLA Dual Meet on April 28. In last year’s Crosstown Cup matchup, USC swept the men’s and women’s meets on the backs of strong performances by freshman Earnest Sears III and redshirt junior Dior Hall among other event winners that day.

The month of May will be solely devoted to USC’s quest for Pac-12 and, eventually, NCAA Championships as the team will spend two weekends in Tucson, Ariz. competing against the conference’s best before traveling up to Sacramento, Calif. for the NCAA preliminary competitions. In 2018, Lyndsey Lopes had a particularly dominant run through the Pac-12 Championships, placing fourth in the heptathlon and winning the women’s high jump after clearing a jump at 1.79 meters. Lopes became the first USC conference champion in the women’s high jump and would go on to be named an honorable mention All-American in the event.

To end the season, the Trojans will travel to Austin, Tex. to compete at the national championships, where the women placed first as a team and the men set three collegiate records while taking home a fourth place finish in 2018.

While last season’s standouts including Michael Norman and Kendall Ellis have since graduated, the Trojans are still well positioned to make headlines once again in 2019.

]]>Track & field prepares for NCAA Championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2018/05/29/track-field-prepares-for-ncaa-championships/
Wed, 30 May 2018 04:44:52 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=12869220 USC athletes will head to Eugene, Ore. to compete in various events next week.

]]>The USC track and field team spent Memorial Day weekend up north, competing in the NCAA West Regionals at Sacramento State. In the penultimate meet of the season, USC saw 20 of its athletes punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships, which take place in Eugene, Ore. next week.

A highlight for USC last weekend was a standout performance from freshman Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry. On Saturday, she helped her team of redshirt junior Dior Hall and seniors Kendall Ellis and Deanna Hill reach the NCAA Championships for 4x100m relay, with the group running a second-best time of 43.58.

Terry was far from finished. In addition, she placed second at the regionals for 200 meters, clocking at 22.74 and marking a freshman record for the Trojans. Terry had previously qualified for the NCAA Championships for 100 meters on Friday, meaning she will compete in three events in Eugene.

Unlike the women’s 4x100m relay team, the men’s group had a tough day in Sacramento. Sophomore T.J. Brock, junior Raj Benjamin, freshman Zach Shinnick and sophomore Michael Norman failed to qualify for the NCAAs. The team was unable to finish, dropping the baton early in its run.

Despite the setback, USC looks to make a major impact at the NCAA Championships. Freshman Chanel Brissett, sophomore Anna Cockrell, sophomore Mecca McGlaston and Hall all qualified for 100m hurdles event, with Brissett finishing second at Regionals with a stellar time of 12.86.

And while the 4x100m relay group fell short, members of the team still have the chance to shine next week. Brock will compete in 100m, after finishing seventh at regionals and recording a personal record of 10.19 seconds on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Benjamin turned in a strong performance in the men’s 400m hurdles. He advanced to the NCAA Championships, after placing first with a school record time of 47.98. According to USC Athletics, his time is the second-best in the world. He looks to continue his impressive times with another standout performance in Eugene.

Outside of track, redshirt senior shot putter Nick Ponzio finished eighth at regionals. He’s not a stranger to the big stage, as his throw earned him a fourth-consecutive ticket to the NCAA Championships. Ponzio looks to improve upon a sixth place finish last year.

On Thursday, junior Lyndsey Lopes earned a spot at the NCAA Championships for high jump, narrowly making the field with an 11th place finish in Sacramento. For senior long jumper Madisen Richards, there was much less doubt she would punch her ticket to Eugene, as she finished secondin qualifying.

The NCAA Championships begin June 6 and last until June 9. USC will field athletes in 28 different events.

]]>Trojans ready for Trailblazer Challengehttp://dailytrojan.com/2018/03/21/trojans-ready-for-trailblazer-challenge/
Thu, 22 Mar 2018 06:00:35 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=126707The USC track & field team hopes to further their stellar 2018 season this weekend.

]]>The Trojan track and field team prepares for the Power 5 Trailblazer challenge this weekend following the conclusion oftheir indoor season at the NCAA Indoor Championships at College Station, Tex., on March 10. The team impressed, securing a number of wins and even a world record against the nation’s best athletes. The men’s team finished second among all schools, with the women placing seventh.

Senior long distance runner Madison Ricks (right) is in her fourth and final season sporting cardinal and gold. Katie Chin | Daily Trojan

With the indoor season coming to a close, the outdoor portion of the year got rolling the following week at the Trojan Invitational hosted by USC, where the Trojan athletes once again put on a show at their second outdoor meet of the season.

Both the men and women teams put on remarkable performances at the NCAA Indoor Championships, winning five events. Senior Kendall Ellis won the women’s 400m dash in spectacular fashion, with a collegiate and USC record time of 50.34. She topped the previous record by 12 milliseconds, set in 2014 by Phyllis Francis. The women’s 4x400m relay team also won first place, as freshman Kaeilin Roberts, sophomore Anna Cockrell, senior Deanna Hill and Ellis blazed a time of 3:27.45, the fourth fastest college time ever.

The headline-grabbing performances of the weekend came from the men’s 4×400 relay team as they broke the world record in both events. Sophomore Michael Norman ran a ridiculous time of 44.52, breaking the previous record of 44.57 set by Kerron Clement back in 2005. He was a part of the Trojans’ other world record as well, as the men’s 4×400 team of Norman, freshman Zach Shinnick, junior Rai Benjamin and senior Ricky Morgan Jr. won the event with a time of 3:00.77. This is the only indoor 4x400m time below 3:01 ever recorded — an incredible feat. They had set the record themselves earlier in the year with a 3:01.98, only to have it broken by a 3:01.77 run by Poland earlier this month. Their remarkable performance at the NCAA championship gives them their record back, likely for much longer this time.

The beginning of the outdoor season continued the next week at the Trojan invitational, where USC dominated the field. The Trojans won a total of 12 events across the board, from throws to the relays.

Freshman Joy McArthur won the women’s hammer throw with a best distance of 197-1 in her first college meet. Redshirt senior Nick Ponzio took first in the men’s shot put, with a best throw of 61-6.75. Redshirt senior Breanna Jemison won the women’s shot put on a best mark of 53-1.5. Senior Madisen Richards won the women’s long jump on her best jump of 19-11.75. USC also took a victory in the women’s high jump, as freshman Cassidy Palka took first on a best clearance of 5-7.00. Freshman Earnest Sears won the men’s high jump, clearing 7-2.50 for first place.

The track portion of the meet went equally well for the Trojans, where they racked up six more wins, including the women’s 4×100 relay team of redshirt sophomore Angie Annelus, redshirt junior Ky Westbrook, Hill and freshman TeeTee Terry, who burnt up the track with a time of 43.49, securing a victory. Freshman Chanel Brissett won the women’s 100m hurdles, running a wind-aided 13.10.

Coming off their hot streak, the Trojans will head into the body of the outdoor track and field season in the coming weeks. They will compete in the Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge this upcoming weekend, where they will look to continue their success.

]]>Track and field team sets records in South Carolinahttp://dailytrojan.com/2018/02/13/track-field-team-sets-records-south-carolina/
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 09:13:51 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=125364The track and field team put on an impressive showing at the Tiger Paw Invitational.

]]>The Trojan track and field team arrived in South Carolina with high hopes over the weekend as they prepared to compete in the Tiger Paw Invitational hosted by Clemson.

As a member of the women’s 4x400m relay team, sophomore Anna Cockrell and her teammates completed the race in 3:02.23. Katie Chin | Daily Trojan

The men’s team entered the meet ranked No. 15 in the nation, while the women’s held the No. 4 spot. Neither squad disappointed. They put up their most impressive showing of the season thus far, dominating in events across the board. The Trojans totaled seven wins over two days of competition, and most impressively of all, set a new world record.

The men’s 4×400 relay team — comprised of freshman Zach Shinnick, junior Rai Benjamin, senior Ricky Morgan Jr. and sophomore Michael Norman — won in spectacular fashion as they set a new IAAF world indoor record in their win with a remarkable time of 3:01.98. The race was the fastest ever recognized by the IAAF, breaking both collegiate and international records. The No. 2 Florida team also broke the previous record, making for a truly historic race.

The women’s 4×400 relay team didn’t fail to impress either, finishing 4.5 seconds ahead of the second place team in a dominant victory. The team of sophomores Kyra Constantine and Anna Cockrell and seniors Deanna Hill and Kendall Ellis ran a 3:02.23, the fifth-fastest time ever in the event. Hill also won first place in the women’s 200m dash with a facility record time of 22.82 while Ellis placed third with a time of 22.99. Ellis did manage to secure a victory, running a 51.57 to win the women’s 400m dash.

Freshman Twanisha Terry impressed in the women’s 60m dash, running a blazing 7.23, a new PR. Redshirt junior Ky Westbrook followed up in second place, running a season-best time of 7.25. In the men’s 60m, sophomore Alexander Barnum placed second on a strong performance that saw him post a PR of 6.61. Cockrell placed third in the women’s 60m, setting a PR with a time of 7.96. Sophomore Michael Norman won the men’s 400m dash with a time of 45.00 seconds, breaking the school record for the event.

Redshirt senior Breana Jemison threw for 16.88m in the women’s shot put for a second place finish.Senior Randall Cunningham secured an impressive victory in the high jump, not missing a single jump until the 2.26m, which he would clear on his second attempt to win the event. Redshirt senior Eric Sloan won the triple jump, setting a facility record in the process; his winning jump measured in at 16.23m.

The Trojans’ season has begun as well as they could have hoped for. They’ve impressed in every week of the season so far, steadily displaying improvement as the season kicks into gear, with the Tiger Paw Invitational as their best performance yet.

Junior heptathlete Lyndsey Lopes, who set a PR in the 60m hurdles at the meet, gushed about the great team atmosphere.

“To be surrounded by amazing athletes who uplift and push one another is a true blessing,” Lopes said.

They will need to sustain and build upon their success, as they begin the first week of the MPSF Indoor Championships on Feb. 23.

]]>Trojans bring hardware back to LAhttp://dailytrojan.com/2018/01/30/trojans-bring-hardware-back-la/
Tue, 30 Jan 2018 08:49:44 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=124603The USC track and field team impressed in their second invitational of 2018.

]]>The Trojan track and field program went to the Razorback Invitational in Arkansas last weekend with high hopes, with the women’s team ranked No. 4 and the women’s team ranked No. 14 in the country. The team did not disappoint, impressing against elite competition from schools like LSU, Arkansas and Florida State.

Sophomore hurdler and sprinter Anna Cockrell took 2nd place in the women’s 60m hurdles with a time of 8.06. Katie Chin | Daily Trojan

Redshirt junior Dior Hall flashed her blazing speed for the second week in a row in the 60m hurdles, winning first place in a follow up to her second place finish at last week’s meet in Albuquerque with a time of 7.98 seconds. She was followed by teammate sophomore Anna Cockrell, who finished second after posting a time of 8.06 seconds.

For the second week in a row, the USC women’s 4×400 women’s relay team secured first place, as Kendall Ellis (senior), Cockrell, Deanna Hill (senior) and Kyra Constantine (sophomore) put up a time of 3:31.25. Randall Cunningham picked up his first 1st place finish of the season in the men’s high jump with an impressive height of 2.25m, improving on his 3rd place finish at last week’s meet.

Anna Cockrell also finished in 3rd place in the women’s 200m dash with a time of 23.16. Freshman teammate Twanisha Terry made USC history with an 8th place finish, as her 23.43 second time set a USC freshman women’s indoor record for the event. Junior Lyndsey Lopes also scored well in the penathalon, finishing 4th with a score of 3,921.

Sophomore TJ Brock finished 2nd in the men’s 60m dash once again, setting a new personal record with a time of 6.64 seconds. In the women’s shot put, redshirt senior Breanna Jemison finished in 3rd with a best throw of 15.73 meters. Senior Eric Sloan placed second in the men’s triple jump, posting a distance of 16.33m.

The strong performances didn’t end there for the Trojans. Senior Nicholas Ponzio threw for a distance of 18.68m in the men’s shot put, placing 4th in the event. A time of 7.94 seconds in the men’s 60m hurdles secured redshirt junior Marquis Morris a solid 5th place finish in the event final. Senior Ricky Morgan Jr. placed first in the men’s 400m dash, running the lap in 46.80 seconds. In the women’s 60m dash, three Trojans claimed back-to-back-to-back spots from 3rd to 5th place. Respectively, the finishes were posted by freshman Twanisha Terry, sophomore Anglerne Annelus and Hill. Terry led the three with a time of 7.27, followed by Annelus’s 7.30 and Hill’s 7.32. Constantine ran well with a time of 52.77 seconds in the women’s 400m dash.

The Trojans will have little time to reflect on their successes at the Razorback invitational as they focus their attention on the upcoming Tiger Paw invitational hosted by Clemson. The team will look to build off their performances from the last two weeks as they approach their third meet of the indoor season.

]]>USC track and field off to an encouraging starthttp://dailytrojan.com/2018/01/24/usc-track-field-off-encouraging-start/
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 08:08:03 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=124383The Trojans turned in key performances at the MLK Jr. Invitational in New Mexico.

]]>The Trojan track and field team began the indoor season with an impressive effort at the MLK Jr. Invitational meet in Albuquerque, N.M.. The outing resulted in 17 top-3 finishes, including seven wins as the Trojan athletes faced off against competitors from the likes of UCLA, Fresno State and Grand Canyon University over the two-day meet marking the beginning of a season filled with high expectations.

The big winners of the meet showed no signs of rust as they came off to a scorching start to the season. Freshman Zach Schinnick and sophomore Kyra Constantine won the men’s and women’s 400 meter dashes with times of 46.49 and 53.2, respectively. With her time, Constantine also set a personal record.

Redshirt junior Ky Westbrook put up a blazing 7.29 second time in the women’s 60m dash to win the final for the event, while teammate sophomore Zaria Francis came in second with a time of 7.34.

Senior Kendall Ellis ran a 23.29 to win the women’s 200m, followed by fellow teammates sophomore Anna Cockrell, Westbrook, freshman Twanisha Terry and Constantine, who placed from second to fifth, leading to a USC sweep of the top 5 spots in the event. USC also dominated the 400m relays, with wins for both the men’s and women’s teams.

To round out the winners pantheon, senior Dominic Smallwood dominated in the triple jump, winning on a 55-10.25 jump after only taking three jumps, which would end up being the three best jumps of the day.

The Trojan athletes impressed across the board, notching noteworthy finishes in the field events. In men’s long jump, redshirt senior Eric Sloan captured second place with a jump of 25-7.25, the top distance for any collegian at the meet. Junior Margaux Jones also placed second in the women’s long jump, jumping an impressive 20-8.

In men’s high jump, senior Randall Cunningham found himself in a tie for third place with a jump of 6-9.5.

The USC shot putters also put up strong performances, with top-3 finishes in both the women’s and men’s event. Redshirt senior Breana Jemison achieved a distance of 56-8, earning her second place, while junior Matthew Katnik reached 62-9.25 to secure a third place spot. Both distances were worthy of qualifying for Nationals—an impressive feat for the first meet of the season.

The team found similar levels of success on the track. In the women’s 60m hurdles, the four collegiate finalists were all Trojans. Redshirt junior Dior Hall placed second on a time of 7.98, followed by Cockrell at 8.02 in third. Freshman Chanel Brissett and sophomore Mecca McGlaston rounded out the USC contingent in the event, coming in fifth and eighth, respectively, with times of 8.15 and 8.35. Sophomore T.J. Brock ran a time of 6.65 in the 60m dash to win second place, setting a new personal record. Senior Robert Ford placed second in the 600m dash with a time of 1:18.51.

The team looks to carry over the success from the first meet of the season going forward as they prepare for a meet in Arkansas this coming weekend. Though the competition will be stiff coming from SEC schools such as Arkansas and Georgia, the team remains unfazed and confident in their abilities.

“We have so much talent on this team; we are really looking stronger than ever,” junior heptathlete Lyndsey Lopes said.

If their efforts from the opening meet are indicative of anything, the team looks well-poised to be successful down the stretch of this season.

]]>The Trojans swept the Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week awards this week, taking home the honors for both male and female athletes.

It was the second consecutive honor for redshirt junior Eric Sloan, who took home men’s field Athlete of the Week for his victory in the triple jump at last weekend’s Beach Invitational in Long Beach. In order to notch the win, Sloan beat out an Olympian and a former U.S. triple jump champion with a 16.42m finish in the event.

The jump was more than two feet longer than any Pac-12 finish this season, and placed Sloan second among all NCAA athletes for this season. He now holds the top distances for the long jump and the triple jump for the Pac-12 this season.

Sophomore Margaux Jones finished first among the collegiate athletes at the Beach Invitational, placing third overall in the long jump. Her finish of 6.31m was a season-best and also set a new record for the Pac-12 this season. She finished behind two non-collegiate competitors — a 2015 Pan American Games gold medalist and a former Pac-12 champion.

The Trojans now have seven Pac-12 weekly awards under their belts for the track and field season. Other winners include redshirt junior Nick Ponzio, junior Deanna Hill, redshirt senior Just’N Thymes and junior Kendall Ellis.

Next up, the Trojans head to San Diego for the Triton Invitational at UCSD. The men’s team is now ranked No. 11 in the country, while the women’s team is staying steady in their slot at No. 5.

]]>The Pac-12 named junior Deanna Hill the conference Track and Field Women’s Track Athlete of the Week for the week of March 20 through 26.

Hill clinched the accolade after placing second in the 100-meter dash at the Aztec Invitational last week. At the event, she notched a personal record of 11.18 seconds. Her time ranks second in the country so far this season. It also moves Hill ahead from ninth place to seventh place overall on the list of records for the Trojans’ 100-meter dash.

At the invitational, Hill also anchored her team’s winning 4×100-meter relay. The team posted a time of 43.97 seconds, a time that currently ranks third overall in the country.

This is Hill’s second Track Athlete of the Week honor from the conference after she received the same award in 2015. So far this season, she is the team’s second athlete to receive the award, joining Nick Ponzio, who received last week’s honor.

Next up, Hill will travel with the men’s and women’s teams’ sprinters and jumpers to the Texas Relays in Austin. The teams’ throwers and distance runners will split off to travel to San Diego for a one-day competition at the California Collegiate.

The Trojans currently boast 22 individual times that rank in the top 25 of the country. Additionally, all four of the USC relay teams rank in the country’s top 25. This weekend, the team looks to defend the men’s No. 11 ranking and the women’s No. 5 ranking.

]]>Track and field impresses at Razorback Invitationalhttp://dailytrojan.com/2017/01/29/track-field-impresses-razorback-invitational/
Mon, 30 Jan 2017 03:15:26 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=111219The women’s team finished second overall, and the men finished seventh out of 14.

]]>USC track and field travelled to Fayetteville, Ark. over the weekend for the Razorback Invitational. The Trojans brought a partial team to the Randal Tyson Track Center, choosing to give some of their athletes a rest, but they still placed well out of 14 programs in the overall team standings, with the women’s team finishing in second and the men in seventh.

The meet started strongly for USC on Friday, and multiple Trojans set personal best marks. Junior Deanna Hill was the highlight of the day, taking home first place in the women’s 200-meter dash with a personal best and national leading time of 22.94 seconds. Hill was the only 200-meter runner at the meet to record a time under 23 seconds, and that mark improved her second-place standing on USC’s all-time list for the indoor 200-meter. Meanwhile, junior Kendall Ellis ran a personal best 23.15 in the event, which was good for third overall and third on the all-time list.

Sophomore Margaux Jones finished third in the women’s long jump on Friday, turning in a season-best 20-9.25 (6.33 meters) mark. Freshman Courtney Corrin, who is ninth all-time in program history in the indoor long jump, improved on her record with a jump of 19-11.00 (6.07 meters), finishing seventh overall. On the men’s side, junior Randall Cunningham finished second in the high jump, with a clearance of 7-2.25 (2.19 meters).

The Trojans enjoyed another impressive series of performances on Saturday, the final day of the invitational. Redshirt sophomore Marquís Morris won the 60-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 7.73 seconds, which also tied him with senior Brendan Ames for third-best in USC history. Freshman Anna Cockrell and sophomore Jasmyne Graham then took home a 1-2 finish in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, both setting personal records of 8.15 and 8.22 seconds, respectively. Cockrell improved on her fifth-best time in program history, while Graham moved up on the list from ninth to seventh.

Senior Cameron Pettigrew finished first overall in the women’s 400-meter race, sprinting to a personal best time of 53.05 seconds. The new high mark bumped her from 10th to sixth on the Trojan indoor records list. Freshman Kyra Constantine finished just behind Pettigrew in second overall, setting her own personal best of 54.00 seconds — which was good for eighth-best all-time.

USC wrapped up the weekend with a team effort, as the Trojans set a collegiate-leading time in the women’s 4×400-meter relay. Ellis, Cockrell, Pettigrew and Hill combined to finish in 3:30.66 minutes, which won the event in style and also moved the quartet into third place in USC’s record books.

Next up, the track team prepares for a trip to Albuquerque, N.M. for the New Mexico Classic. The Trojans will compete over the weekend at the indoor meet before attending their first outdoor competition in Seattle in two weeks’ time.

]]>USC track and field: Kendall Ellis sets school record at season’s first meethttp://dailytrojan.com/2017/01/22/usc-track-field-kendall-ellis-sets-school-record-seasons-first-meet/
Mon, 23 Jan 2017 02:22:52 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=110908The 4x400 meter relay teams won their events at the first indoor invitational of the year.

]]>The track team started out the year with a bang at the Rod McCravy Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Saturday. Junior Kendall Ellis set the school indoor 400-meter record and both the men’s and women’s 4×400 meter relay teams took home first place. Redshirt sophomore Marquís Morris, redshirt junior Nick Ponzio and redshirt senior Just’N Thymes also placed second overall in their respective individual events.

Ellis placed second with her record-breaking time of 51.52 seconds, coming close behind Miami senior Shakima Wimbley’s time of 51.28 seconds. Her time reduced her previous personal record by 1.25 second while also breaking the previous school record of 52.22 seconds, which was set by senior Jaide Stepter last season.

Freshman Kyra Constantine ran the 400-meter event as well, winning her heat and finishing 12th overall with a time of 54.24 seconds. The race earned her the eighth spot on the Trojans’ all-time indoor 400-meter times.

The women’s 4×400 meter relay team, consisting of senior Cameron Pettigrew, senior Amalie Iuel, Constantine and Ellis, finished with a time of 3:31.72 minutes, moving to become third-fastest on the Trojans’ all-time indoor record for the event. Only three of the 14 teams participating in the 4×400 event finished under 3:35.75 seconds, putting considerable distance between themselves and the opposing teams.

The men’s 4×400 meter team had a similarly fast-paced day, posting the second-fastest time for the event in school history at 3:07.80 to finish in first place. The team consisted of junior Ricky Morgan Jr., junior Robert Ford, redshirt sophomore Zyaire Clemes and Thymes.

Thymes also succeeded during his individual event, placing second in the 60-meter dash and setting a personal record with his time of 6.7 seconds.

Junior Dominic Smallwood and redshirt junior Eric Sloan also ran the 60-meter event, finishing side-by-side at 24th and 25th with respective times of 7.21 seconds and 7.27 seconds. Also taking second in a personal event was Morris, who set a personal record with his 7.81-second finish in the men’s 60-meter hurdles event.

Ponzio also took home a second place finish in shot put after improving steadily to a final throw of 18.87 meters. Sophomore Matthew Katnik started out third overall in the shot put event, but fouled in his final three attempts to finish in fifth.

On the women’s side, redshirt senior Brittany Mann placed third overall in shot put with a 16.49-meter best throw. That mark placed her second in the program’s history.

Two Trojans placed in the women’s 60-meter hurdles event, with freshman Anna Cockrell finishing sixth and redshirt sophomore Dior Hall placing seventh. This was Hall’s first return to competition following an ACL-tear that sidelined her in December of 2015.

Junior Deanna Hill and redshirt sophomore Ky Westbrook both placed in the 60-meter dash finals, with Hill taking fourth with a time of 7.37 seconds and Westbrook taking seventh with a 7.43-second finish.

Redshirt senior Lorea Ibarzabal took eighth in the 800-meter event, moving to sixth-place in Trojan history with a time of 2:10.20 minutes. Sophomore Mikaela Smith finished slightly behind in ninth place with a time of 2:10.33 minutes.

Freshman Chloe Berry and sophomore Amber Gore finished at 20th and 27th in the 1-mile race with times of 5:09.68 minutes and 5:14.34 minutes. The times moved Berry to seventh and Gore to eighth in the overall school women’s record for USC in the 1-mile event.

In the men’s events, junior Robert Ford finished the 800-meter event in 1:48.54 seconds to take fifth overall. Sophomores Nicolaus Jakowec and Trent Rule both set personal records in the men’s 1-mile event, finishing 20th and 23rd with times of 4:19.12 minutes and 4:21.62 minutes.

The Trojans will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. next for the Razorback Invitationals on Friday. The meet will be one of four invitational tournaments before the MPSF Indoor Championships and the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

]]>The women’s cross country team may be a small group, but it is close knit and off to a good start.

The team is composed of 11 runners, most of whom are freshmen and sophomores, though the team does include several juniors, seniors and even graduate students.

For head coach David Freeman, though this is one of the youngest teams he has ever coached, it doesn’t lack for skill.

“[This is] potentially the most talented [team]top to bottom,” he said.

Redshirt junior Rebekah Ent noted the camaraderie among the teammates is strong.

“[The team is] a lot closer than it has been in the past, with a solid group of girls who are all working towards the same goals,” she said.

The team has already run their first meet, the Pepperdine XC Invitational, and came away undefeated. The Trojans beat Cal State Bakersfield, Long Beach State, Pepperdine and UC Irvine for their first overall win since 2014.

Redshirt sophomore Madison Ricks led the team with a 15:14.37 first place finish and an eight-second lead over the second place finisher. In addition to Ricks, the team saw five runners finish in the top 13, including sophomore Amber Gore, who finished fourth with a time of 15:26.05. Gore is coming back from an injury last season and is considered to be one of the runners to look out for, according to Ent.

“It was a really good first race, especially coming off an injury last year and a good starting point for where I want to be this year,” Gore said.

Even with the win, Freeman is staying focused on the next meet.

“This is just a starting point,” he said. “We are just trying to get the rust out of the way and get back to training tomorrow and used the next two and a half weeks to get ready to compete at Riverside in our next meet.”

Freeman is focusing on catching up the younger runners and getting them into the Pac-12 mindset with the help of older runners such as redshirt seniors Vivian Grimes and Lorea Ibarzabal.

“They both have seen it all and have experienced the ups and downs of college, so I think they can add a lot through their experience,” Freeman said.

The veterans have already inspired the younger runners to win the Pac-12, and the team is off to a great start to making that dream come true.

Their next meet is the UC Riverside Invite this Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how I can do with larger competition, and I think that the team is stronger than it ever has been,” Gore said.

]]>Cunningham wins NCAA title in high jumphttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/06/14/cunningham-wins-ncaa-title-high-jump/
http://dailytrojan.com/2016/06/14/cunningham-wins-ncaa-title-high-jump/#commentsTue, 14 Jun 2016 22:20:29 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=104161The men’s team finished 12th and the women tied for 9th at the NCAA championships.

]]>Fourteen track and field athletes competed at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, last week. There were 10 women and four men who qualified following their performance in the West Preliminary qualifying rounds.

The highlight of the event was sophomore Randall Cunningham winning the men’s high jump on Friday.

“It is great to be a champion,” said Cunningham in a press release. “This is what everyone trains for to come out here and be No. 1 and be a champion, so for it to actually happen for me means the world to me.”

Cunningham was able to finish strong in a season slowed down by injuries and problems.

“It was exciting to watch Randall come into his own today and jump flawlessly and PR with no misses and so much emotion,” said Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert. “He is proud to be Trojan and we are honored that he represented us with so much charisma, class and tenacity today. He had has a tough year but he never gave up and that is a true sign of a warrior and champion.”

On Friday Cunningham started off at 2.09 m in the high jump final and did not miss a jump in the next four measures (2.14, 2.19, 2.22, 2.25). 2.25 also marks Cunningham’s outdoor PR. No one else was able to clear 2.25 m. Cunningham had his first miss at 2.28 m. When he was sure of the title, he raised the bar at 2.29 m, the Olympic “A” Standard, but fouled his last two attempts.

The men’s competition started on Wednesday with sophomore Adoree’ Jackson placing fifth in the men’s long jump. Jackson was in third place after the first three jumps with a mark of 7.65 m entering the finals but dropped off the podium before his fourth leap. His final mark of 7.66 m came in the fifth round. Jackson gave USC four points in the team competition and earned All-American status for the second year in a row. Jackson will be back in the same field battling for a spot in the Olympic team.

On the women’s side of the competition, USC was able to advance to seven final rounds. Junior Destinee Brown, sophomore Deanna Hill, senior Alexis Faulknor and senior Tynia Gaither set a new school record of 42.90 as they finished second in the 4×100 m relay.

In the women’s long jump freshman Margaux Jones and Faulknor weren’t able to finish in scoring positions, ending the event in ninth and 10th place, respectively. Jones earned second-team All-America honor.

Senior Tera Novy finished seventh in the women’s discus throw, becoming a two-time All-American. She marked 57.70 m in her third attempt and wasn’t able to improve in the final throws.

Stepter finished sixth in the 400 m hurdles final with a time of 55.30, earning her second All-American honor in the event.

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2016/06/14/cunningham-wins-ncaa-title-high-jump/feed/1Track and field sends athletes to nationalshttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/05/31/track-field-sends-athletes-nationals/
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 00:23:03 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=104078Fourteen Trojans qualified for the NCAA Championships that will be held June 8-11.

]]>The track and field team qualified 14 athletes in 16 events for the NCAA Championships at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds held in Lawrence, Kansas, from Thursday to Sunday.

“I was pleased with the overall outcome of the NCAA first round meet,” Director of Track and Field Caryl Smith Gilbert said in a press release. “I thought we did a good job of overcoming all of the circumstances this weekend. I thought we kept our composure daily with five- and six-hour rain delays. We didn’t get to run a preliminary round, but we were still able to come out and win heats and advance to nationals race by race.”

The top 12 athletes in each event earned a bid to compete in the finals on June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.

Day one was slowed down by the weather, and few athletes were able to compete. Freshman Nathan Bultman was the only Trojan to step on the field in the men’s hammer throw. Despite coming close to a personal record, throwing 60.02, he wasn’t able to qualify, finishing 27th.

Day two started with sophomore Dominic Smallwood and sophomore Adoree’ Jackson competing in the men’s long jump. Smallwood marked a personal best at 7.50 m that kept him in the race for the finals until the last round of the final flights, when he dropped out of the top-12, finishing thirteenth. Jackson finished third overall with a jump of 7.75 m.

“Dominic had a great PR in the long jump, and although he did not qualify, that was one of my most proud moments this weekend because he has been working very hard,” Gilbert said at the end of the weekend.

Sophomore Kendall Ellis and junior Cameron Pettigrew ran the 400-meter women’s event. Starting together in the fifth heat, they got second (52.91) and third (54.38) respectively. Ellis was the fastest of the non-automatic qualifiers and advanced to the finals. Pettigrew finished sixteenth overall. On the men’s side, sophomore Ricky Morgan Jr. qualified with the eighth time (46.46).

Senior Jaide Stepter and junior Amalie Iuel advanced to the finals in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Both won their heats in 56.87 and 56.90 respectively.

Iuel was supposed to compete in the high jump as well, but was forced to withdraw as the two events were rescheduled one hour apart and in two different locations.

Sophomore Randall Cunningham finished tied at first place in the men’s high jump as he cleared 2.07, 2.12 and 2.16 with no error.

In the last event of the day, women’s long jump, the Trojans were able to send two more athletes to Eugene as senior Alexis Faulknor leaped 6.02 in her final attempt, finishing eleventh. Freshman Margaux Jones finished sixth with 6.20 marked in her first attempt.

The success didn’t stop there for USC. On day three, Ellis, Iuel, Pettigrew and Stepter set a new school record in the 4×400-meter relay team with a time of 3:26.73, finishing third overall and advancing to the finals.

The 4x100m relay of Faulknor, junior Destinee Brown, sophomore Deanna Hill and redshirt senior Tynia Gaither finished third overall after they won their heat in 44.14 and secured a spot in Eugene.

Hill and Gaither also took part in the women’s 200-meter event. They both marked new personal records at 22.60 (+0.7) and 22.61 (+1.2) respectively. Overall they were second and third respectively.

In the final event of the meet, the men’s shot put, USC had three athletes set to compete. Bultman in his third event of the weekend was joined by freshman Matthew Katnik and sophomore Nick Ponzio. Bultman fouled the first two attempts and decided to step out of the ring for the third one because he wasn’t pleased with the mark, finishing with no valid measure. Katnik threw 18.48 m in his second attempt, only 0.12 m short of the 12th place, finishing 15th overall. Ponzio was the only one to qualify, with his opening mark at 19.05 m putting him in fifth place overall.

“We had a few mistakes along the way, but overall just about everyone that was ranked to make it to nationals did,” Gilbert said. “Our talented freshmen learned some huge lessons about nationals, and next year they will be even stronger and knowledgeable about the process.”

Overall 10 women qualified for the NCAA championships.

“On the women’s side it was one of the best meets of the season, and we have a strong team of 10 women heading to the NCAA final round,” Gilbert said. “We ran some of our best performances of the season this weekend. We are starting to put our races together. I was excited to see some PRs and everyone came out healthy.”

]]>Distance runners and field athletes are headed off to UC San Diego to compete in the Triton Invitational Friday and Saturday. The majority of participating USC athletes will be throwers and distance runners. Sprinters, hurdlers and most jumpers are getting a week off before the USC-UCLA Dual Meet May 1, at UCLA.

At UCSD, the Trojans will face off against collegiate athletes and professionals in the Triton Track and Field Stadium. Senior thrower, current Pac-12 Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, discus throw school record-holder and owner of the farthest discus throw in the NCAA this season, senior Tera Novy, is among the athletes preparing for this weekend’s competition.

Novy is coming off a second record-breaking throw this season. Novy broke her own school record when she threw 196-6 on April 2 and bested that when she threw 200-5 at the CSULA Twilight Meet on April 14. At the meet she also had throws of 196-1 and 200-1.

“Coach Dan [Lange] said to work on some technique to make my throw better in the finish. It’s about working on the little things, refining it, making it better,” Novy said. “[My results] show that all the hard work is paying off; just gotta stay focused on the process and not let the numbers get ahead of me.”

Despite her continued success, Novy is looking forward to the weekend.

“Just having fun and being able to go out there and compete with some good girls,” Novy said. “It’s mainly a professional meet, and there’ll be girls from all around the country, including the best in America. So, it’ll be nice to have some good competition.”

Novy will be one of seven Trojan throwers at UCSD this weekend. Freshman Nathan Bultman will join redshirt sophomore Nick Ponzio for the men’s shot put and discus throw events. Freshman Matthew Katnik will also compete in the shot put event, while redshirt sophomore David Sellens will perform in the hammer throw next to Bultman. Redshirt junior Erika Peyton and junior Tanya Sapa will participate in the women’s hammer throw. Sapa will also throw in the shot put.

There will also be distance runners on hand for the No. 3-ranked Women of Troy. Senior Natasha Strickland, Redshirt sophomore Rebekah Ent and freshmen Rachel Glynn, Taylor Seamans and Amber Gore will be racing in the 800-meter race.

For the 3,000-meter run will be redshirt freshmen Madison Ricks and Sophia Racette. Racette will also run at the 5,000-meter distance. Competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase will be seniors Jenna Tong and Katerina Berdousi.

Sophomore Madisen Richards will compete in the long jump.

For the No. 15 Men of Troy, the 800-meter race will feature senior Will Robinson and sophomores Jordon Wallin and Mitchell Cameron. Cameron will also be competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. In the 5,000-meter run will be freshmen Nicolaus Jakowec and Trent Rule.

]]>Speed is the last thing that mattershttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/04/19/speed-last-thing-matters/
Wed, 20 Apr 2016 04:47:22 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=103327Senior Will Robinson is a walk-on but has had a huge impact on the track team.

]]>For senior Will Robinson, his greatest memory over four years of running track at USC is coming in third place.

He was the anchor in the 4×400 relay race in the opening meet of his senior season. He had one goal — no one would pass him. The second the baton slapped into his hand, Robinson pushed, determined to keep up with the two runners ahead of him.

He ran out of gas at the 300-meter mark, legs pumping, lungs burning. That’s when he began to hear again.

Before then, Robinson ran in silence. A combination of adrenaline and focus blocked out every scream, every shout from the crowd. But as he lost steam, the noise of his teammates began to wash over Robinson in waves.

Above it all, he heard the voice of volunteer coach and two-time Olympic gold medalist DeeDee Trotter hollering his name, urging him to finish as strong as he started. His teammates chanted, begging him to hold his spot. So he did.

They took third. Robinson took the baton with his team in third, and he kept them there for 400 meters. After the meet, the coaching staff praised Robinson in front of the rest of the team. He kept his head down, his smile small. He didn’t run for the praise. He was just doing what he always does — being the best teammate possible.

Robinson isn’t the fastest runner on the team. Far from it. His best marks in the 800-meter race are significantly slower than some of his teammates. He’s never won a race, and he won’t make the Nationals roster.

But who ever said speed is all that matters?

For Robinson — soon-to-be Marine, devoted Christian, walk-on track athlete — there’s a whole lot more to running track than putting one foot in front of another. Track is about dedication to himself and his team. It’s about the communication and support passed on from one runner to another. Most importantly, it’s about the bonds he creates and the inspiration he cultivates every day. That focus on impactful relationships is what drives Robinson on and off the track.

On a good day, he’s busy. On a bad day, busy doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Sitting on the bleachers overlooking Cromwell Field, Robinson counts on his fingers all that he has to do today. He’s already had a science lab, a meeting for ROTC, an interview for a paper. The watch snugly fit on his left wrist blinks — it’s slightly past 10 a.m. In less than an hour, he’ll leave for bible study, then more classes, more interviews.

It’s a long day, he says. He promises they’re not all like this.

Robinson is used to getting the same question, on repeat — how does he do it all? His answer, true to character, is humble and boils down to a simple combination of hard work, eliminating distractions and always being kind.

In reality, this means setting 5:30 a.m. alarms to make it to NROTC meetings and hunching over lab reports late at night. But Robinson will adamantly say that he doesn’t do that much more than others, that his own story isn’t unique. He’s figured out the best schedule and lifestyle for himself.

It’s simple, he says. It’s just not easy.

Welcome to the life of a young man who splits his time between three passions and centers them all around his core values — a faith in God, friendships and giving his all every day. In his final year of college, Robinson has his life figured out. In a few months, he’ll graduate with a degree in human biology and move to Quantico, Virginia, to finish his training as a Marine. But the last four years have been a journey of finding himself, his faith and his place at USC.

In the first semester of his freshman year, Robinson was in a rut. He was struggling with school, but mostly Robinson felt that he hadn’t found his rhythm. He was an athlete in high school, running cross country and track and he was used to a comfortable routine. Halfway through his first year at USC, Robinson simply hadn’t found that.

So he walked into the track office and asked for a chance to walk on. The answer wasn’t definite, but Robinson kept coming back and asking again and again.

They never said yes. But they also never said no. And when the first meet of the season rolled around, Robinson’s name was on the list.

That was the beginning of his four-year love affair with the track team. Realistically, he shouldn’t have made the roster, shouldn’t have been kept on it when the coaching staff rolled over the next year. But he was. Since then, Robinson has dedicated himself to fulfilling his specific, unique role on the team — competitor, supporter, motivator.

Ask Robinson about track, and he’ll tell you about his team. He prides himself on knowing his teammates by name, knowing their schedules, their majors and their interests. He knows who is having a good week and who’s struggling or nursing a bum ankle.

Later in the week, he’ll lead them in a Bible study at Heritage Hall as part of Athletes in Action. He’ll cherish seeing a different side of his teammates, focused on prayer and reflection. Each Wednesday, he’ll lead the same group, hoping to strengthen a part of each athlete that has nothing to do with lifting weights or running sprints.

“I’m not perfect in any way, but I want to be someone who helps others first,” Robinson said. “And I feel like, if I can help someone in their walk in faith, that’s the greatest I can really do for another person.”

That love for supporting others stems from a single source — Robinson’s younger brother, Daniel.

At the age of 2, Daniel was diagnosed as autistic. He’s mild on the spectrum, Robinson says, but the experience made him grow up just a little faster. From a young age, Robinson understood that if Daniel needed help, it was his responsibility to give him a hand. Sometimes that meant helping tie his shoelaces or button his shirt. Other times, it meant coaching Daniel in social situations, letting him know how to behave or what to say when the words didn’t come easily for his little brother.

It meant being the odd one out. It meant being too mature, too understanding for his age. He was weird, Robinson said, in the way that he worked a little harder and cared a little more about others, even in elementary school.

He and his brother never fought. He couldn’t stand that. He couldn’t stand to see his brother belittled. He couldn’t stand to see other kids left out or treated poorly. And the fact that he couldn’t stand any of those things — isolation, bullying — led Robinson to begin a life dedicated to something more.

“That’s my brother and I love him,” Robinson said. “I think I realized from a young age that I wanted to help people in a very tangible way, because I always wanted to look out for him. He taught me how to care for others.”

Ask Robinson what he’ll remember about USC, and he’ll tell you that it’s the feeling of community, of having a family consisting of Christians and runners and Marines and Trojans, a massive, sprawling family that made him feel like he wanted his four years to last forever.

Ask him to give you one favorite memory, and he’ll tell you about an unremarkable moment on an unremarkable day when he was reminded why he’s on this team to begin with. It’s the day he helped Andre De Grasse to the trainer’s room.

This was years before De Grasse’s career sling-shotted him into the spotlight. Robinson had no idea that the runner close to collapsing on the track at his feet would one day become one of the brightest stars for the Canadian Olympic team. He simply reached out a hand, dragged the sprinter to his feet and half-carried him down to the trainer.

Two years later, when De Grasse was preparing to leave USC, he thanked Robinson for helping him.

“I’ll never forget that,” De Grasse told him.

It was funny to Robinson, because until that moment he had almost forgotten about it. To him, that was just another part of being a teammate. But the way De Grasse thanked him, the way that he remembered that kindness after two years of national attention and record-breaking marks — that stuck with Robinson.

De Grasse was a future Olympic champion, but Robinson was the teammate who picked him up before he was anybody. And that meant something. It’s the type of impact that Robinson hopes to keep making on his team, and on anyone who finds their way into his life.

“These are athletes who are known for their split times and their marks,” Robinson said. “I know them as more than that. I know them as people, and that’s really special. If I can touch their lives, if I can touch anyone’s lives, help them through anything, big or small, then I consider that a job well done.”

In a little over a month, Robinson will move multiple time zones away to begin his final Marine training at Quantico. It’s bittersweet, he says. On one hand, he’ll be realizing a dream years in the making. On the other hand, he’ll leave behind everything that has defined his life up until now. He’s not sure which is more powerful.

In a little over a month, everything will change. But for now, Robinson is enjoying the little moments, the last moments. He’s appreciating all that this school, his team and his community have meant to him, how much they have shaped him.

There’s so little time left, he says, and yet so much more to do — qualifying races, the national championships. He wants to cherish these final moments, because they have been the greatest of his life and they have molded him into the man, the runner, the soldier, the friend that he is today.

When this all ends in a few weeks, he will carry those memories, those lessons with him across the country. But for now, he’s not worrying about leaving. He’s just taking it one race at a time.

]]>Track and field prepares for busy weekend of meetshttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/04/13/track-field-prepares-busy-weekend-meets/
Thu, 14 Apr 2016 06:09:12 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=102960The Trojans will be all over the map in the Southland, competing in several events.

]]>This week, the No. 14 men’s and No. 3 women’s track and field team will attend three different events at two different locations over three different days.

The busy schedule begins Thursday with the 58th annual Mount San Antonio College Relays, in Norwalk, California, and the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, hosted by Long Beach State University, in Long Beach, California. Though the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate ends Thursday, competition at Long Beach State will resume Friday and Saturday for the 22nd annual Beach Invitational; the Mt. SAC Relays will also continue until Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of the eventful week, which is in the midst of a full outdoor season, redshirt senior sprinter Tynia Gaither gave her thoughts on her and her teammates’ current mindset.

“I definitely feel ready,” Gaither said. “We’re a really strong mental team; we can take on anything. So, we look forward to our competition, and we look forward to going out there and doing our best every time, no matter what.”

Gaither is poised to compete at the Mt. SAC Relays this weekend. She will participate in the women’s 100-meter dash collegiate open on Friday, alongside sophomore Deanna Hill, junior Destinee Brown, and sophomore Gabriella Cantrell; senior Alexis Faulknor will compete in the women’s 100-meter dash invitational collegiate open the next day. Faulknor will also run in the women’s 200-meter dash invitational on Saturday, with Gaither and Hill. Finally, Gaither will anchor the women’s 4×100 meter relay invitational, which is also composed of Faulknor, Hill and Brown, on Saturday.

USC will be heavily represented at the Mt. SAC Relays this year. Trojan athletes will participate in the majority of scheduled events: the men and women’s 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, the men and women’s 800-meter, 1500-meter and 5000-meter runs, the men and women’s 4×100 meter and 4×400 meter relays, as well as both teams’ long jump events, discus throws, hammer throws and shot put events.

The Trojans’ highly respected throwers coach, Dan Lange, commented on how his freshmen athletes have performed so far this season.

“I just feel like this group of throwers, from a character standpoint, is amongst the best I’ve ever had in 27 years,” Lange said. “They’re great athletes, but they’re really, really, high quality people.”

Though most of his athletes, including recent USC Credit Union student-athlete of the week, senior Tera Novy, will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays, some of his throwers will feature in at least one event at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach. Freshman Nathan Bultman and redshirt sophomore David Sellens III will participate in the men’s hammer throws, while junior Tanya Sapa and redshirt junior Erika Peyton will look to perform well in the women’s hammer throws.

In Long Beach, the men and women of Troy will participate in more than throwing events. Senior Felicia Horvath will pole vault on Thursday during the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and again later during the Beach Invitational. Redshirt freshman Madison Ricks, senior Katerina Berdousi, senior Jenna Tong and freshman Sophia Racette will compete in the women’s 1500-meter run, while sophomore Mitchell Cameron and freshman Trent Rule will do the same in the men’s event. More Trojans will also feature in dashes and runs throughout the Long Beach events.

Sophomore jumper Dominic Smallwood, set to perform in the men’s triple jump and long jump at Mt. SAC, spoke to how he sees the team performing from now on.

Next weekend, USC’s track and field team are going to La Jolla, California, to take part in the Triton Invitational. That will precede the much anticipated USC-UCLA Dual Meet, which will occur the following week in Westwood.

]]>Senior breaks USC record in discus for second timehttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/04/05/senior-breaks-usc-record-discus-second-time/
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 06:42:07 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=102535Senior discus thrower Tera Novy broke her own record by more than two feet.

]]>Senior discus thrower Tera Novy was announced as the Pac-12 Women’s Field Athlete of the Week after she broke the USC school record in the discus over the weekend. The honor is for the week of March 28-April 3 and was announced by the conference on Tuesday.

Novy broke the school record for the first time last season, when she threw 193-11, breaking Kate Hutchinson’s record from 2006 of 189-5. Novy’s new personal best is the new school record of 196-6 or 59.9 meters. She bested herself by two feet and seven inches.

Novy’s record-breaking throw came on April 2 at the California Collegiate in La Jolla, Calif.

With the performance, Novy has thrown 189-10 in all three meets this season. Only three women in USC’s history have ever thrown 180 feet — two of them being Novy and the previous record-holder Hutchinson.

Novy’s record-breaking throw from the meet is also the top throw by a collegian this year.

Novy is the fourth Trojan to earn Pac-12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors. For the week of March 21, three Trojans earned the honor. The recipients were sophomore Ricky Morgan Jr. who runs the 400m, sophomore jumper Adoree’ Jackson and, on the women’s side, senior Jaide Stepter who competes in the hurdles.

]]>Q&A with track and field star Amalie Iuelhttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/04/04/qa-track-field-star-amalie-iuel/
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 05:52:32 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=102438A junior who already owns a Norweigan record, Iuel gave the Daily Trojan a look into her life on and off the track.

]]>Last week, Amalie Iuel, a junior on the track and field team, spoke to the Daily Trojan in a one-on-one interview, where she gave insight into her life as an international student athlete, what her future goals are and more.

The junior heptathlete is having an amazing season so far. She set a Norwegian record for the women’s indoor 400m race at the New Mexico Classic, scored the most points by any college athlete in the heptathlon this season at the Sam Adams Combined Events Invitational and has consistently achieved personal records throughout the season.

Daily Trojan: Rumor is that you are trying to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Is this true? Would it be as a heptathlete?

Amalie Iuel: This is true. I would be competing for Norway. I haven’t quite decided whether I want to compete for the hurdles or for the heptathlon. Obviously, I have to hit the standards first and then make the choice. But, as of now, I think I have a better shot at the hurdles.

DT: Was being a heptathlete always the goal?

AI: Yeah I think it was always a big dream of mine. Carolina Klüft, she’s a Swedish heptathlete who was always my idol. I loved her. And, I always liked doing multiple events. I could never stick with one; it was way too boring.

DT: As a heptathlete, how do you have time to practice all of the events?

AI: I come in for the main sprint practices on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then Saturday, if we don’t have a meet. Then, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ll do the jumping events and the throws. Sometimes I’ll have to split up my practices, come in the morning, then come back later on and do some throws and some jumps

DT: Do you feel like some of your events suffer because of how much you have to practice?

AI: Yes. I feel like I lack points in the throwing events … Especially since I don’t look like a thrower as you can see [flexes]. I feel like I don’t get to throw as much as I’d like to.

DT: Do you have a favorite event?

AI: It has to be the long jump. There’s no rush with anything. You don’t have to go off of a gun. You don’t have to worry about knocking a bar over. You go at your own pace and you just jump.

DT: You are Norwegian, you were born in Denmark, you went to high school in Bangkok, and now you’re in L.A. for college. Is there somewhere you’d like to live permanently later on in life?

AI: I love L.A. I could definitely see myself staying here or going back home [Norway]. It’s a good place to start a family. I think I want to do what I did; I moved around a lot. It allowed me to experience a lot, so if I get a job that allows me to travel, I’d be OK with that.

DT: Are you trying to become a professional athlete? Or will you be looking for a “normal” job once you’re out of college?

AI: I’m looking to go pro. That’d be awesome! If I can’t do it here, I’ll go home and do it. That’s the overall goal. I want to keep running for as long as I can. Then I’ll start looking for a normal job; I’ll have my degree [at USC] as a backup.

DT: You graduated from a high school in Bangkok. What were the biggest differences in training there compared to here?

AI: Ugh … The heat! Bangkok has two seasons: hot and hotter. But you also have a rain season; in the fall it rains a lot, so it gets really, really humid. And with the rain comes the thunder and lightning, so practice gets interrupted a lot. And it’s not the kind of rain you see here. It’s intense! And in the summer time it just gets really, really, really hot.

DT: How are you dealing with living so far away from your parents and siblings?

AI: They live in Norway right now, but they’re moving to Dubai, where I also used to live a couple years ago. It sucks. I miss my family so much. I come from a big family: I have four siblings, so there’s seven of us in total. There’s always something going on. So I miss them a whole bunch.

DT: What motivates you to train and compete?

AI: I’m very competitive. I don’t like getting beat. Even like the smallest things, I take way too seriously. I always feel the need to be the best, even though it takes a long, long while to get there. But that’s my main goal, to hopefully win a medal someday.

DT: When did you know that competing in track and field is what you wanted to do?

AI: My parents threw me into it. I treated everything like a competition. They must have thought I was really annoying because of all of my energy.

I remember one time, I think I was 7, [my younger cousin] was 4, and I was like “Let’s race!” and I would beat her by a whole lot. I didn’t go easy on her like you typically would. No, I would go all out and I would stand there be like “Ha-ha! You lost!” So it was terrible. My parents were like, “You can’t keep doing this!” So, they put me in track and field. And I loved it, because I got to do what I love doing: competing and racing.

DT: What’s the most important thing your coaches have taught you — about life or about track and field?

AI: That you can achieve whatever you put your mind to.

DT: How did you celebrate breaking a Norwegian record?

AI: We went out to a barbecue place right after. I was choosing between one pound of ribs and two pounds, and everyone was saying, “No, no, no! You’re not gonna be able to finish!” So, me and couple of the guys [each] got the two pounds. And I slayed them. I mean, they had nothing on me.

DT: You play guitar and sing; what is your favorite song to cover?

AI: I like “Riptide” [by Vance Joy]. I like playing that; it’s a fun song to cover. I don’t get to do it as much anymore because I really don’t have much time on my hands.

DT: What is your favorite song to listen to (or band, or genre)?

AI: Favorite artist: Kygo. I need him to calm me down before a race.

DT: Favorite movie?

AI: Inception.

DT: Favorite meal?

AI: Sushi! Or like a medium-rare rib-eye steak! Very different but both so delicious! I’m not very picky with my food, but I’m a food lover.

DT: How do you relax?

AI: Netflix. Hulu. HBO GO.

DT: What is your dream vacation?

AI: I need to go to Australia. I always wanted to go. Or New Zealand, Peru. I don’t have one. I want to go everywhere. I want to explore.

]]>Three Trojans were named Pac-12 Track and Field Athletes of the Week on Tuesday, marking the second week in a row where USC athletes have dominated the Athlete of the Week competition.

Sophomore Ricky Morgan was selected as the men’s track athlete, senior Jaide Stepter was selected as the women’s track athlete and sophomore long jumper Adoree’ Jackson was selected as the men’s field athlete.

Morgan’s award came after winning the 400-meter dash at the Power Conference Cardinal and Gold meet, running a personal record of 45.54 seconds and taking almost a second off his previous personal record. His time is the best in the country and helped the Trojans take second at that meet against high-ranked teams such as No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Texas and No. 13 Ohio State.

Septer also runs the 400-meter dash and set the USC women’s record at the Cardinal and Gold meet at 50.91 seconds. The time ranks fifth in Pac-12 history and leads the country. Septer also ran a 50.6 second leg to win the women’s 4×400-meter relay at the same meet.

Jackson won the long jump at the Cardinal and Gold Challenge with a 7.82-meter jump, a length which tied for sixth in the country. He also placed second in the 100-meter race with 10.41 second time, which ranks in the top 20 in the nation.

This was the second Athlete of the Week award for all three of these Trojans in the last two weeks of the 2016 track and field season. Their next meet will take place this weekend in San Diego at the California Collegiate Invitational.

]]>Track and field to host meethttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/03/24/track-field-host-meet/
http://dailytrojan.com/2016/03/24/track-field-host-meet/#commentsFri, 25 Mar 2016 04:22:41 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=101832The USC men are No. 9 in the country and the Women of Troy are No. 12.

]]>The Trojan track and field team is set to compete in the Power Conference Cardinal and Gold Challenge on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s events will be held at California State University Los Angeles, and Saturday’s events will take place at USC’s Loker Stadium. Though the contest has never been held before, it has attracted some great teams. The Trojans will play host to No. 1 Florida, No. 12 Texas and No. 16 Ohio State. They may be few in number, but they are great in talent, and that should provide some very exciting competition.

However, senior distance runner Katerina Berdousi remained unfazed at the upcoming strong opposition.

“I think that stiff competition is better than no competition,” Berdousi said.

She said she didn’t want to get caught up in this particular event, focusing instead on the competitions still to come.

“My goal is not to get first; it’s to get good times in order to attend the Pac-12s and regionals,” Berdousi said.

“In all of my competitions, I like to focus on myself,” Cunningham said. “I work on my goals and compete against myself.”

The Power Conference Cardinal and Gold Challenge will be the second straight competition at home for the Trojans, following the Trojan Invitational that took place during spring break. Berdousi regretted that the invitational occurred when most students were out of town, so she’s expecting even stronger support from her fellow Trojans this weekend.

“It will be an advantage that we have more people here from USC to support us. It will be much more intense,” Berdousi said.

Adding to the intensity will be the Pac-12 Network’s cameras filming Saturday afternoon’s events for a live broadcast.

“I don’t feel any extra pressure; I just feel like it motivates us more knowing that more people will be watching us compete,” Cunningham said.

Offering a different point of view, jumps coach Sheldon Blockburger was concerned with favoritism.

“It’d be nice if everybody got fair camera time rather than focusing on the 100m and 1000m,” Blockburger said. “It’s always good to have your sport put on television, especially on a March Madness week. I’m sure everybody’s going to do their best and put on a good show.”

The California Collegiate Invitational awaits the Trojan track and field teams, following the Power Conference Cardinal and Gold Challenge. The contest will take place April 2, in San Diego.

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2016/03/24/track-field-host-meet/feed/1Track prepares for MPSF indoor championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/02/24/track-prepares-for-mpsf-indoor-championships/
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 05:00:20 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=100432The Trojan track and field teams will be heading to Seattle, Washington, this weekend to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Track and Field Championships. The women’s team will seek to hold onto their title for the third year in a row, while the men’s team will attempt to dethrone Oregon, who narrowly […]

]]>The Trojan track and field teams will be heading to Seattle, Washington, this weekend to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Track and Field Championships. The women’s team will seek to hold onto their title for the third year in a row, while the men’s team will attempt to dethrone Oregon, who narrowly beat them last year.

The MPSF ITFC is a competition created in 1992 and designed for Division I West Coast schools. This year, 14 men’s teams and 19 women’s teams will be in attendance. Though the Trojan men’s team is looking solid, as they are currently ranked ninth in the nation by the USTFCCA NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings, they will have to be wary of strong competition from Oregon’s squad, which is ranked second on that list, and Washington’s, which is ranked twelfth. Meanwhile, the No. 10 Women of Troy will have to battle Oregon’s first-ranked roster and Washington’s seventeenth-ranked team.

Though the women of Troy aren’t number one in the nation, junor sprinter Destinee Brown is still convinced that she and her teammates have targets on their backs. Brown said she is willing to do whatever it takes to earn the victory.

“I feel like we’re definitely the team to beat,” Brown said. “[Personal records] are great, but I would rather win than PR. But if I have to PR to win, then that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Coach Caryl Smith Gilbert echoes the sentiment. Though most teams facing SC this weekend are not ranked, she acknowledges that competition will still be tough.

“At the end of the day, the ranking doesn’t matter,” Gilbert said. “It’s about what you do on the day. There are a lot great teams and a lot of great competitors in the conference that want to make sure to give us a run for our money.”

The men’s squad will make their second-ever appearance at the indoor event, and their good performances so far this season suggest that it will be a strong one. Most notably, two weeks ago, in the Tyson Invitational men’s triple jump event, junior Eric Sloan set a personal record (55ft, 10.50in) to win the competition and claim the farthest jump by a college athlete this season. Sophomore Randall Cunningham placed fourth in the high jump (7ft, 3.25in) at the Tyson long jump event.

The women’s lineup is also looking very competitive. USC currently holds the MPSF ITFC women’s 1600m relay record (3:33.58), which was set last year. It may be beaten, as the quartet of sophomore Kendall Ellis, junior Amalie Iuel, senior Jaide Stepter and Brown set a school record (3:28.82) at the 2016 Tyson invitational in the women’s 1600m relay. Also at the 2016 Tyson invitational, Iuel set personal records in the women’s 400m (52.52) and in the women’s 60m HH (8.504). The same day, Katerina Berdousi placed second overall with a PR of 4:57:43 in the women’s 1600m, and Rebekah Ent posted a PR of 2:12:91 in the women’s 800m to place seventh overall.

Following the MPSF ITFC, the Trojan track and field athletes can look forward to closing out the indoor season with the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, in early March.

]]>Track and field looks to continue successhttp://dailytrojan.com/2016/02/10/track-and-field-looks-to-continue-success/
Thu, 11 Feb 2016 07:09:09 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=99578A full slate of events awaits the 17th-ranked Men of Troy in the Tyson Invitational.

]]>The indoor track and field season continues this weekend as USC competes in the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas. The 17th-ranked men’s team and seventh-ranked women’s team seek to continue their good form. Last weekend, the Trojans battled their opposition and the high altitude as they competed in the New Mexico Classic in Albuquerque. They overcame those challenges to secure four wins — a shotput sweep, men’s triple jump, women’s 4x400m relay — a school record in the women’s 4×400 relay and several personal bests.

The events in Fayetteville will kick off Friday with the women’s mile run. Junior Destinee Brown, who placed sixth in this event’s finals last weekend, will be joined by sophomore Deanna Hill, who placed fifth in the same event, Gabriella Cantrell, a sophomore who narrowly missed out on last weekend’s 60m finals, as well as sophomore Ky Westbrook and senior Alexis Faulknor.

The women’s 200m dash will involve seven Women of Troy — all of the 60m dash competitors as well as Jasmyne Graham and Jaide Stepter. Hill will look to get first place this time around, as she was beaten out for it by a mere 0.003 seconds in Albuquerque. Cantrell will try to improve the already great time of 23.65s she posted in the finals last weekend.

Stepter will hope to win again in the women’s 400m dash, after she posted a new school record at 52.30s in the finals. The Trojans must have liked Albuquerque’s banked track because right behind her were junior Amalie Iuel, with a second place time of 52.73s and sophomore Kendall Ellis, in third place, with a time of 53.42s. For the men’s 400m dash, USC will be sending Clemes and sophomore Ricky Morgan Jr., who managed a sixth place overall in the New Mexico Classic’s 400m finals.

The Trojans were competitive in last week’s 4x400m relay races and will try to be once again. The men and women’s squads will both feature one change from last week’s successful squads. The women’s roster will include Ellis, Iuel, Stepter and Cameron Pettigrew, who will be replacing Hill. The men feature Clemes, Morgan Jr., Jackson and Robert Ford. The women’s one-mile race will feature seniors Katerina Berdousi and Jenna Tong, who placed 3rd and 7th respectively last weekend. The pair will also compete in the women’s 3000m run alongside sophomore Rebekah Ent. Freshmen pair Nicolaus Jakowec and Trent Rule will compete in the men’s 3000m.

Ford and Jordon Wallin, two sophomores, will participate in the men’s 800m race, while as many as four Trojan women — redshirt sophomore Rebekah Ent, freshman Rachel Glynn, Pettigrew and freshman Mikaela Smith — will compete in the women’s 800m.

Hurdlers to look out for include sophomore Marquís Morris, who narrowly missed out on last weekend’s 60m HH finals, and freshman Graham, who placed seventh in the women’s 60m HH finals, which only included three college athletes. Iuel and freshman Lyndsey Lopes will join Graham in the 60m HH this weekend.

The Trojan long jumpers will comprise of Faulknor, Iuel and Margaux Jones for the women, while Jackson and Eric Sloan will represent the men. The high jump event will include one USC athlete: sophomore Randall Cunningham. The triple jump competition will feature Dominic Smallwood, who placed seventh last weekend, and Sloan, who jumped a personal best last weekend to claim first place in an impressive display of athleticism.

Last but not least, USC’s shot-putters will try to sweep the event once again. Last weekend redshirt sophomore Nick Ponzio and senior Tera Novy won the men’s and women’s events, respectively. Freshman Nathan Bultman managed a third place throw in the men’s event, while junior Tanya Sapa secured second place in the women’s with a personal best throw. Talented Freshman Matthew Katnik will compete alongside Ponzio and Bultman this weekend.

The Trojans have two more competitions left in this year’s indoor season: the MPSF Championships later in the month and the NCAA Indoor Championships in early March. These precede USC’s first outdoor competition in mid-March: the Trojan Invitational.

]]>The track and field team looks to improve on its strong 2015 season that saw the men’s team place fifth in the NCAA Championships, while the women finished seventh.

These top-ten finishes were largely due to the 24 athletes who earned All-American honors, seventeen of whom will be returning for the 2016 season.

Among them is sophomore Adoree’ Jackson, whose long jumps secured titles at the USC-UCLA meet and the Pac-12 championships. Marquis Morris is also returning after his All-American 2015 season that saw him win the conference’s 110m HH. The men’s team has a solid throwing roster, which includes All-American Nick Ponzio as well as Matt Katnik. Ponzio set a school shot put record for freshmen, while Katnik won the California state shot put title. Conor McCullough, the 2015 NCAA champion hammer thrower, will also be returning for the Trojans after being granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

The women’s team can count on returnees like Alexis Faulknor who not only set PRs in 100m and 200m races but also won the Pac-12 long jump title. Returning senior Tera Novy had an outstanding 2015 season, setting the USC discus throw record, placing fourth in the NCAA championships and second in the Pac-12 championships. The women’s team also boasts hurdler Dior Hall, who placed third in the 2015 NCAA Championships with a world junior record time and won the Pac-12 100m HH crown.

Among those not returning is sprinter Andre De Grasse, who accepted a pro contract after his breakout 2015 season. To help fill those shoes, USC brought in a very strong recruiting class.

On the women’s team, freshman Jasmyne Graham, the 2015 Girls Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year, will headline the hurdle events, while runner Mikaela Smith, the 2013 and 2014 California State Champion, is expected to lead the 800m run.

The men’s team includes redshirt freshman sprinter Zyaire Clemes, who placed second at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals 400m event in his senior year of high school. He also boasts a Junior Olympic title in the 400m race.

This exciting Track and Field season will kick off with indoor competitions from mid-January until mid-March, at which point the outdoor events will commence until the season’s end in late June. Though some coaches regard the indoor contests as a chance to practice, USC’s track and field director Caryl Smith Gilbert, who will be entering her third season at USC, does not adhere to that state-of-mind. She expects her athletes to perform to their fullest potential throughout the entire track and field season. This is evidenced by the two indoor MPSF championships the Women of Troy have claimed in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

The 2016 Track and Field season kicks off Jan. 16 at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor Center for the UW Indoor Preview. USC will send 22 women and 16 men to Seattle in hopes of besting their solid 2015 showing. Last season, the Trojans recorded four wins (women’s 200m and 400m races, men’s 400m, women’s triple jump), seven personal records (60m: Alexis Faulknor, Destinee Brown; 60m HH: Melia Cox; 200m: BeeJay Lee; 400m: Jaide Stepter, Ricky Morgan; 800m: Robert Ford) and one USC event record (Robert Ford’s 800m 1:52.70 beat the standing record of 1:53.9, set in 1968 by Carl Trentadue).

]]>After winning both the 100m and 200m dashes at the 2015 NCAA Championships on June 12, junior Andre De Grasse was named the 2015 National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on June 17.

De Grasse became the second Trojan in three seasons to win the award, after Bryshon Nellum won in 2013.

De Grasse began his record-breaking day with the 100m dash, posting a time of 9.75 (+2.7w), his personal record. Though he was aided in part by the wind, his time is the fastest any-condition time run by a Canadian athlete, the second fastest any-condition time by a collegiate runner and a tie with Tyson Gay’s time at the 2008 Olympic Trials for the-fastest any-condition time at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Forty-five minutes after this historic win, De Grasse won the 200m with a time of 19.58 (+2.4w), the world-leading any conditions time. De Grasse became the first Trojan to win both the 100m and 200m dashes at the NCAA Championships since Clancy Edwards did so in 1978.

Both times ranked in the top 10 fastest performances in world history in all conditions.

In addition to these individual events, De Grasse also ran the second leg for USC’s 4x100m relay. The team placed fourth with a time of 38.75.

This wasn’t De Grasse’s only impressive award win of the year. He also was named the 2015 Pac-12 Men’s Track Athlete of the Year after an impressive showing at the Pac-12 Championships May 16-17, which earned him a spot at the NCAA Championships. De Grasse again won both the 100m and 200m races and ran on USC’s winning 4x100m relay. His 100m and 200m performances at the conference meet were also historic, as his 100m time of 9.97 (+0.6) set the USC, Pac-12 Meet and UCLA Drake Stadium record. His semifinal 200m time of 20.03 (-0.1) not only tied him for second on USC’s all-time list, but also set the Canadian record.

The NCAA Championships capped off the Ontario native’s first season at USC after he transferred from Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. De Grasse has another year of eligibility if he wishes to return.

]]>Track and field competes in championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2015/06/16/track-and-field-competes-in-championships/
Tue, 16 Jun 2015 23:51:31 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=89771The men’s team finished in fifth place while the women finished seventh.

]]>For the first time since 2009, both the men’s and women’s track and field teams had top 10 finishes at the NCAA Track and Field Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, from June 10-13. The men’s team took fifth place and the women’s finished in seventh.

The men’s team saw success in both racing events and field events. Senior Conor McCullough destroyed the competition in the hammer throw, defeating his closest competitor by almost 17 feet. The senior earned All-American honors for his performance.

Debatably the most impressive Trojan performance of the weekend went to junior Andre De Grasse, who swept the 100m and 200m for the first time since Olympic medalist Walter Dix did it in 2007 for Florida State University.

De Grasse set a personal best with a time of 9.75. The run was spectacular and tied none other than Olympian Tyson Gay for the fastest time run at Hayward Field. De Grasse also won by a margin of .13 seconds, which is the largest margin since 2010.

De Grasse’s performance was not done there, though, as he moved on to the 200m. Becoming only the 21st person to ever win both races in the same season, he did so in historic fashion. De Grasse ran a 19.58 in the 200m which is not only the fastest time ever run by a collegiate athlete, it set the field record and is also the fastest any-conditions time for the year in the world.

In the relay event, De Grasse served as the second leg on the 4×100 relay that also featured senior BeeJay Lee, junior Just’N Thymes, and freshman Adoree’ Jackson. The team finished in fourth with a time of 38.75, the second-fastest time in school history.

Jackson, who competed in the long jump, is the first football player to also score in two events at the T&F championships since 2000.

De Grasse scored 21.5 points for the Trojans, the most by any athlete in 2015, and was the first USC athlete to lead the championship scoring since 1978. He earned 10 points each for his wins in the 100m and 200m and an additional 1.5 points for his role in the relay.

“It was just an unbelievable feeling,” De Grasse said in a press release. “I never thought that I could run that fast, but I just have to believe in myself, and now that I’ve run that fast, it’s changed my whole perspective on running.”

On the women’s side of the action, the relays were strong. The 4x100m relay team started the day with the team of freshman Dior Hall, freshman Ky Westbrook, junior Alexis Faulknor and freshman Deanna Hill. The team placed third with a time of 43.27, the second fastest time on the year for the quartet.

The final event, the 4x400m relay, vaulted the team from ninth overall in the competition to their finishing position of seventh. The women placed second in the race with a time of 3:29:97.

Tera Novy placed fourth in the discus throw for the women for the best finish in the event ever by a USC athlete.

With their two top-10 finishes, the track and field teams were able to place 24 athletes on the first-team All-American list in addition to eight second-team honorees, and four Trojans earning honorable mention. Ten members of the men’s team earned first-team honors and 14 members of the women’s, the second-highest total among the women’s teams. All-American status is based on the results at the NCAA Championships with the top eight finishers in an event earning first team status, 9-16 place earning second, and 17-24 earning honorable mention.

]]>Track and field headed to championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2015/06/02/track-and-field-headed-to-championships/
Tue, 02 Jun 2015 23:57:57 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=89657The Trojans will send 25 athletes to compete for a title in Eugene, Oregon.

]]>After three action-packed days of qualifying in Austin, Texas, the NCAA track and field championship fields are set, with 25 Trojans in the finals. The championships will be held in Eugene, Oregon, from June 10-13.

The first athlete to qualify was freshman and two-sport standout Adoree’ Jackson, in the long jump. Jackson entered the competition ranked 16 in the region with only the top 12 advancing. Jackson, who jumped 25 feet 8 inches, moved up to seventh place.

Jackson has a chance to break into the top-10 all-time USC list, which has been left undisturbed since 2003. All eyes will be on Jackson in the championships to see if he can continue his ascension to the top, as well as to see if he can score a place on USC’s record list.

The men’s high jump will also see a Trojan, freshman Randall Cunningham, competing in the championships. Cunningham cleared 7-2.5 in his third attempt, which was good enough for sixth place and a ticket to Eugene.

On the second day of action, sixteen Trojans qualified for the championships, in a variety of field events.

Among them, senior Conor McCullough, who decimated the competition with a 246-1 on his second attempt in the hammer throw to win by over 10 feet. Leading up to the preliminary rounds of qualifying, only three other throwers had a distance of over 230 feet. McCullough will be looking to cap his year with a national title.

Junior Tera Novy found success in the discus throw, finishing fourth in the competition. Fellow discus thrower, senior Alexandra Collatz, secured a ticket to Oregon by finishing just behind Novy in the fifth position of the competition.

With the final day of qualifying on the schedule, the 4×100 relay team for both the men and the women qualified for championships by finishing with the fifth fastest qualifying time.

The Women of Troy found significant success in the 100 HH. Two USC athletes advanced to Oregon, freshman Dior Hall and senior Melia Cox. Hall had the second fastest qualifying time, with a 13.15. Cox set a personal best with her time of 13.24. The time set Cox into a tie with Natasha Neal for 10th place on USC’s all-time 100 HH list, and was also the fifth-fastest time in the competition.

Senior BeeJay Lee and junior Andre De Grasse qualified not only as members of the men’s 4×100 relay, but also in both the 100m and 200m races. De Grasse and Lee were side by side in the 200m, and De Grasse finished with a winning time of 20.17 with Lee in second with 20.47 to leave little doubt of their qualifications.

The final event of the day proved perhaps most exciting for USC. The women’s 4×400 relay was the fastest time in qualifying and also set a new USC school record. Junior Jaide Stepter, sophomore Amalie Iuel, freshman Kendall Ellis and senior Vanessa Jones not only led the whole time, but also added to their margin of victory with each leg extending the lead.

The time of 3:27.86 cracked the USC record of 3:28.08 that had stood since 1999. The time is also the second fastest in the nation this year.

]]>Track and field finishes in second placehttp://dailytrojan.com/2015/05/19/track-and-field-finishes-in-second-place/
Tue, 19 May 2015 23:50:13 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=89539The men’s and women’s teams won 13 events in the Pac-12 Championships.

]]>Both the USC women’s and men’s team’s placed second in the 2015 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships, securing 13 event titles at the meet hosted by UCLA in Westwood, California, last Sunday.

Among some of the greatest accomplishments was that of junior Andre De Grasse, who was named the Pac-12’s Men’s Athlete of the Meet after winning the 100m, 200m and being part of the winning 4x100m relay.

“I just go out there and focus, run my race,” De Grasse said. “Just focus on me, don’t worry about anybody else. I wasn’t worried about breaking any records. Just worried about lowering my time, beating myself.”

De Grasse broke the former 100m USC record by .6 seconds and the conference meet record that was currently held by UCLA’s Ato Bolden since 1996.

“It still hasn’t hit me yet,” De Grasse said. “I feel like I still ran 10.00 or 10.01. So I’m just kind of soaking it in right now.”

Freshman Deanna Hill, freshman Ky Westbrook, junior Alexis Faulknor and redshirt junior Tynia Gaither broke the meet record for the 4 x 100m relay that was set last season by USC. Their winning time of 43.10 beat last season’s record by more than 10 points and ranked them third all-time as a Pac-12 squad.

Freshman Dior Hall came back with a win in the 100m, finishing with a time of 12.99 and, along with senior Melia Cox’s third place time of 13.48 and sophomore Amelie Iuel’s seventh place time of 14.11, helped earn 18 points for USC and narrowed Oregon’s lead to 109-69.

“I knew Sasha [Wallace] was ahead of me,” Hall said. “I knew how high I needed to score in order for us to try and win Pac-12s, so I just knew that if I got her at the last hurdle and outrace her to the finish line, then hopefully, I’ll beat her.”

USC also dominated the 400m race, with senior Vanessa Jones placing first with a new personal record of 51.50, which advanced her to second place on the USC all-time list in the event and eighth of all-time by a Pac-12 runner.

“I knew it was destined for me,” Jones said. “It was just across town, all my family was here, I’ve been working hard and I knew I was going to come out with the win.”

Jones became only the second USC woman to win the Pac-12 400m title, along with Gervaise McCraw, who achieved the title in 1987 at the first Pac-12 event.

Along with freshman Kendall Ellis, who placed fifth with a score of 52.88, Akawkaw Ncha-Ndip placed sixth with a score of 53.00 and Cameron Pettigrew placed seventh at 53.28, the Trojan women earned 19 points, narrowing the score against Oregon to 133-94.

The Women of Troy also commanded the 100m dash, placing second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth in the race. Gaither led the pack with a PR of 11.27 putting her into ninth place on USC’s all-time list. Westbrook took third with a time of 11.36, displacing Faulknor on the all-time list, who placed fourth. Hill and sophomore Destiny Brown placed fifth and sixth respectively, earning 26 points for USC.

In addition to the 100m dash, the Trojan women took first and second in the 400m IH race. Junior Jaide Stepter won the event for the second consecutive time with a score of 55.85, making her the second woman ever to win the event more than once.

“I’m just so excited because we’ve been training for this, I’ve been praying for it since we started practice in September,” Stepter said. “It’s just so exciting to be able to do it and be able to repeat a Pac-12 title, it’s so amazing. And being able to have my teammate as my biggest competition is such a privilege for both of us to be able to have the pressure on each other every day at practice.”

Iuel took second place in the event, with a time of 56.06 and an earned 18 points between the two women. This cut Oregon’s lead to 163-138.

The 200m races further narrowed Oregon’s lead for the women’s team. The Trojan women had seven runners reach the final line with Gaither winning first place with a time of 22.97. Faulknor was second with a time of 23.08 and Hill close behind with a score of 23.14. Jones, Cantrell, Westbrook and Brown were 4th through 7th respectively, earning 34 points for the team.

“We had quite a few personal bests and just about everyone in our team scored points. When you face a dominant team like Oregon there is no room for mistakes and we fell shy in a few areas that cost us the championship,” USC Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert said. “We had finals and graduation last week so now its time to rest and train for the NCAA Championships in two weeks.”

The Trojans will compete again at the 2015 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas from May 28-30.

]]>USC track and field racks up Pac-12 honorshttp://dailytrojan.com/2015/04/22/usc-track-and-field-racks-up-pac-12-honors/
Thu, 23 Apr 2015 06:04:44 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=88883 The program has won more than half of the conference’s athlete of the week awards.

]]>The No. 5 men and No. 4 women’s track teams are both ranked in the top five of the national rankings for the first time since 2008. Part of the reason for this recent spike in success is a fresh load of talent for the Trojans.

For the week of April 13-19, three Trojans earned Pac-12 Athlete of the Week honors. A USC track and field athlete has won 11 of the 20 Pac-12 awards given out thus far this season. Junior sprinter Andre De Grasse of Ontario Canada, won his second award of the season following a dazzling performance at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 18.

The sprinter won the 100-meter, 200-meter and was a member of the winning 4×100-meter relay team.

De Grasse ran the 100-meter in only 9.87 seconds which is not only a new personal best, but also the fastest time in the world this season under any conditions. De Grasse then moved on to the 200-meter where he finished first ahead of a field of professionals once again setting a new personal record with a time of 20.16. The time also ties the Canadian record held by Aaron Brown.

De Grasse now sits at third all-time on the USC 200-meter list. He also holds the fastest times in the country in both the 100-meter and 200-meter this season.

USC’s relay team became the first collegiate team since 2002 and the second team in the last 29 years to win the 4×100-meter relay at Mt. SAC.

The event is composed of a significant number of professionals, but this year USC proved up to the challenge. The wining time was 38.98. De Grasse led off for the Trojans, followed by senior BeeJay Lee, junior Just’N Thymes and anchored by Bryan Mercado.

Conor McCullough, a redshirt senior thrower for the Trojans, also received his second Pac-12 Athlete of the Week honor. McCullough won the men’s Invitational Hammer Throw competition which was also held at the Mt. SAC relays on April 18. McCullough’s best throw was a 241-9, a distance long enough for third farthest in USC history.

It is also the third longest throw by an American man this year and 16th in the world overall.

Junior discus thrower Tera Novy was named the Pac-12 Women’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning the discus throw competition at the Cal State L.A. Twilight Meet on April 16.

Novy set both a new personal best and a new USC school record with her throw of 193-10. The previous school record had stood since 2006.

Ahead for the Women of Troy is the Triton Invitational held in La Jolla on April 24 at which only the women’s throwers will be competing.

The next competition for the entire team will come on May 3 when USC hosts the annual USC-UCLA dual meet.

The meet will also be when USC’s 20 seniors receive their honors and farewells.

]]>USC track and field set to compete around the nationhttp://dailytrojan.com/2015/04/01/usc-track-and-field-set-to-compete-around-the-nation/
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 06:22:59 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=87733The No. 7 men’s team and No. 8 women’s team will have athletes at three meets.

]]>The USC track and field team will divide and conquer this weekend as it sends athletes across the country to three different events.

The rough breakdown will have the sprinters and majority of mid-distance runners flying to Gainesville, Florida, to participate in the Florida Relays.

The other distance runners will be traveling up north to test their speed in Palo Alto at the Stanford Invitational, and the throwers will take the short trip to San Diego to compete in the California Collegiate Invitational. All three meets are considered some of the best of the season for their respective events.

The No. 7-ranked men’s team will be keeping its eyes on the Florida Relays, with great hype surrounding senior sprinter BeeJay Lee, one of three Trojans to win Pac-12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week. Lee will be competing in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 4×100 relay and the 4×200 relay. Lee currently holds the fastest time in the 200-meter in the country with a blazing 20.96, but he expects great competition over the weekend.

“A lot of pros and a lot of good colleges are going to be there,” Lee said following his workout on Monday. “Everybody is coming off the indoor season, so everyone is going to be hungry.”

The 4×200 relay team will add junior sprinter Andre De Grasse, one of the sprinters to watch heading into the outdoor season. De Grasse is a transfer from Coffeyville Community College in Coffeyville, Kansas, and a five-time NJCAA champion. De Grasse’s addition to the relay should allow the team to run a faster race, as well as improve its overall performance in the Sunshine State.

“It’s just going to be some friendly competition,” Lee joked. “So we can go to Florida and show them what Cali is all about.”

Meanwhile, the 800-meter runners will be competing in Palo Alto in what is recognized as one of the toughest meets of the year. Junior Reika Kijima and teammate senior Erica Capellino will represent the No. 8-ranked Women of Troy.

“I want someone to push me,” said Kijima. “This is the top competition.”

Accompanying the ladies will be freshman Robert Ford and senior Myles Andrews. Ford currently holds the sixth-best time in the NCAA for the 80-meter, and Andrews sits just behind him with the ninth-best time in the country.

The final stop for the Trojans will be for the throwers in San Diego, at one of the most elite competitions of the season.

Junior Tera Novy cites the upcoming meet as “the best ring in the country” for discus throwers. Novy competes in both the discus and the shot put. She was another of the Pac-12 Track and Field Athletes of the Week as she set a personal record in the discus with a throw long enough to crack the top-10 on USC’s all-time list. Novy currently owns the third-best discus distance in the country.

“It’s great to be high in the national rankings,” said Novy. “But it’s about who shows up that day and throws.”

This meet will serve as a great gauge for the Trojans as they see how they stack up against the nation’s best and continue working toward their goal of winning a national championship.

“We are making small improvements and working hard,” Lee said. “Our team has a pretty good chance to place high in NCAAs.”

]]>The USC track and field team enjoyed a rather thunderous close to the month of February this weekend. Members of the program competed in Seattle at the MPSF Indoor Track and Field Championships and in Claremont, California, for the 19th Rossi Relays, which marked the opening of the outdoor season.

In Seattle, the No. 23-ranked men’s team was participating in the MPSF conference championships for the first time, while the No. 12-ranked women’s team entered their second such conference championship after competing for the first time last season. Despite never having competed in the conference before, the Women of Troy took home the title last season after scoring 106, more than any team — women’s or men’s — that competed. This weekend, the team looked to defend that title and repeat as champions.

Backed by an impressive performance from freshman Dior Hall and a 4x400m relay win in which USC won with a meet record time, the Women of Troy did just that and repeated as champions. Hall won the 60m HH with a time of 8.11, with senior Melia Cox finishing fourth with a time of 8.34 to earn the team 15 points in the opening stages of the competition.

The women then netted 18 points in the 60m team competition race after redshirt junior Tynia Gaither, freshman Deanna Hill, junior Alexis Faulknor, and sophomore Destinee Brown finished 3-6, in that order, separated by just .17 seconds total between them.

The Women of Troy then made their strongest push of the competition in the 400m race, with their competitors finishing 2-5 and collecting 23 points behind four personal records. Junior Jaide Stepter finished second overall with a time of 52.89, freshman Kendall Ellis took third with a 52.19, senior Vanessa Jones finished fourth with a 53.33, and sophomore Amalie Iuel finished fifth with a time of 53.38.

Later, Faulknor won the women’s long jump, Hill won the women’s 200m, and despite already having clinched the title, the 4×400 relay team set a meet record with a time of 3:33.58 to put the icing on a back-to-back championship cake for the Women of Troy. They finished with 111 total points, thoroughly outscoring second-place finisher Oregon, who had 89, and ASU, who tallied 69.33.

The men had a strong showing in Seattle as well, finishing second in their first MPSF conference championship appearance. Junior Andre De Grasse won the 60m dash with a time of 6.602, winning by just .005 seconds over a fellow Trojan teammate in senior BeeJay Lee (6.607). The pair earned the men’s team 18 points for their efforts.

Lee would go on to win the men’s 200m, and strong efforts from teammates such as redshirt senior Connor McCullough, who won the men’s weight throw, freshman Ricky Morgan, who missed the men’s 400m title by just .02 seconds, and the combination of senior Michael Krone and freshman Randall Cunningham — who placed second and tied for third — in the men’s high jump all helped the men earn 88.5 points, second to only Oregon’s title-winning 95. A third place finish by freshman Marquis Morris in the men’s 60m high hurdles with a time of 7.95 and a second-place place finish by the men’s 4x400m relay team, which consisted of Morgan, junior Just’N Thymes, freshman football sensation Adoree’ Jackson, and senior Davonte Stewart. Their season-best time of 3:08.74 helped the Trojans immensely.

At the Rossi Relays in California, USC put on a strong showing as well. Senior Alexandra Collatz won both the women’s discus (175-11, or 53.62 m) and hammer throw (183-7, or 55.62m) events, redshirt junior Malia Cravens finished third in the women’s high jump with a clearance of 5-1.75 (1.57m), and 3000m distance runners senior Kira Soderstrom (a PR of 9:59.69), junior Katerina Berdousi (10:13.45), freshman Amber Bragdon (10:29.89), and junior Jenna Tong (10:33.58) finished 5-8, all helping the Women of Troy to a strong showing in their outdoor opening.

For the men, senior Bryan Mercado won the men’s 100m dash with a time of 10.72, freshman Dominic Smallwood won the men’s long jump with a leap of 23-2.00/7.06m, and redshirt junior Jovante Slater placed second behind Mercado and Smallwood in these events with a 100m dash time of 10.79 and long jump of 22-5.00/6.83m to help the Trojan men also put on a good display over the weekend.

Both the men’s and women’s teams have their eyes on the NCAA Indoor Championships that will be held on March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

]]>The USC track team spent the weekend competing against the best teams in the country, including teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12, in the 40th Annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track in Lincoln, Neb.

Friday’s competition consisted mainly of qualifying rounds for the Trojans.

“This is our first meet this year on a banked track and for most of the freshmen their first time ever,” USC Director of Track and Field Caryl Smith Gilbert said.

The Trojans had eight athletes advance out of their heats into the finals. Among them was freshman Dior Hall who ran a season-best 8.22 in the 60m HH. On the second day of the competition, however, Hall would best her own record with a 8.14 on her way to victory and setting a USC freshman record. Hall is tied for the second fastest time on the NCAA descending order list.

Another top performer for the Trojans this weekend was redshirt senior Conor McCullough. The transfer from Princeton won the men’s weight throw and chalked a new meet and school record. On McCullough’s second throw he notched 74-7.00, which broke a meet record that had been in place since 2007.

“Our throwers have a lot more in the tank, although they had PR’s as well,” Gilbert said.

McCullough smashed the competition, winning by almost three feet. In addition, three of his six throws were good enough to win the event. After his performance, McCullough is three-for-three in weight throw competitions in his career. Friday’s performance puts him in third place in the country.

“Today we performed outstanding[ly] in most events,” Gilbert said. “We had national-caliber efforts and wins in the women’s hurdles, sprints, middle distance, relays and men’s sprints.”

In both the men’s and women’s 60m dashes the Trojans took home first. On the women’s side of the competition, freshman Ky Westbrook placed first with a time of 7.34. The Women of Troy also took second, third, fourth and sixth in the event. For the men, junior Andre De Grasse set a PR and took first with a time of 6.60. The time is good enough for fifth on the NCAA descending order list nationally.

De Grasse had a busy weekend as he also won the 200m dash. With a time of 20.79, which was a new personal record for De Grasse, he placed fifth on the NCAA indoor list for the season.

In the women’s 200m, redshirt junior Tynia Gaither ran her fastest time of the season, a 23.44, and won the event. The time is also the eighth fastest in the nation. The Women of Troy had great success in the 200m. In addition to Gaither’s first-place finish, USC also took second, third, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 13th.

Despite traveling with significantly fewer athletes than the other teams at the meet, both USC squads finished second in the scoring behind home-team Nebraska.

Up next for the Trojans are two meets over Feb. 13 and 14: the Don Kirby Elite Meet held in Albuquerque, N.M., and the Husky Classic run in Seattle, Wash.

]]>USC’s track & field program is riding high heading into the 2014 NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon this week.

Racing toward the finish · The No. 13 ranked USC track and field team will send senior Aaron Brown to compete in the 100-meter dash. – Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

Both the men’s and women’s programs are ranked No. 13 in the nation and are coming off of an impressive showing at the West Preliminary Rounds, which earned two members of the Trojan squad regional awards.

First-year head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert earned the West Region Women’s Head Coach of the Year Award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Smith Gilbert, who succeeded 19-year head coach Ron Allice, led the Women of Troy to second place at the 2014 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships last month. Individually, the Women of Troy won a conference-best seven events, two more than national powerhouse Oregon.

Senior hurdler Aleec Harris was named the West Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year. The Atlanta native set the Pac-12 and national record time in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. His time of 13.18 (+1.8) broke the previous Pac-12 record, set in 1978 by UCLA’s Greg Foster, by 0.04 seconds.

Harris’ time currently ranks second in the world and is the second-fastest 110 meter high hurdles time ever by an NCAA athlete, behind Maryland’s Renaldo Nehemiah, who ran a 13.00 in 1979.

Prior to his record-setting performance at the NCAA Track & Field West Preliminary Rounds, Harris won the 2014 Pac-12 110-meter hurdle championship with a time of 13.35 and won the Mt. SAC Relays with a time of 13.32.

Harris will be the only Trojan competing in the men’s 110-meter hurdle event at the NCAA Championships. He will be going up against Texas A&M’s Wayne Davis II, the reigning men’s champion.

Brown, who hails from Toronto, will also partake in the men’s 100-meter dash. His preliminary time of 10.12 ranks sixth in the nation this season and was good enough for first place in the Pac-12 this season. In addition, Brown will partake in the 200-meter event, where his 20.16 at the NCAA prelims ranks fourth in the nation this season.

Lee will also compete in the 100-meter dash after posting a 10.16w at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.

Senior Viktor Fajoyomi will compete in the men’s decathlon following a second-place showing at the conference tournament.

USC’s men’s team currently holds 26 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field titles, and will look to improve upon that this weekend.

On the women’s side, 12 athletes will represent USC.

Senior Jessica Davis will look to improve upon her 11.23w time in the women’s 100 meters, which is good for 12th in the nation this season and slotted her second at the Pac-12 championships last month. Junior Tynia Gaither will also compete in this event.

Gaither’s main event, though, will be the women’s 200-meter dash, in which her time of 22.80w at Mt. SAC was good enough for sixth in the nation this season.

Davis and Gaither will team up with sophomore Alexis Faulknor and senior Loudia Laarman in the women’s 4×100 relay.

In the women’s 4×400 relay, Davis and Gaither will team up with juniors Akawkaw Ndipagbor and Vanessa Jones. This foursome has the fifth-fastest time in the nation this season, running a 3:29.42 at the Florida Relays in April.

Jones will also compete in the women’s 400-meter, while junior Melia Cox will compete in the 110-meter hurdle and freshman Amalie Iuel will compete in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles.

Senior Oluwakemi “Kemi” Olonade will partake in the women’s triple jump and junior Alexandra Collatz will represent the Women of Troy in the discus competition, in which she placed fifth last year.

]]>USC sends eleven athletes to NCAA tournamenthttp://dailytrojan.com/2014/06/03/usc-sends-eleven-athletes-to-ncaa-tournament/
Wed, 04 Jun 2014 00:04:28 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=78187Senior Aaron Brown’s 20.16 in the 200 meter event at the West Regionals is the fifth fastest time in the world this year.

]]>Eleven members of the USC track & field team will compete in 14 individual events at the 2014 NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon between June 11-14 after qualifying at the NCAA West Regional this past weekend at the University of Arkansas. Additionally, three relay teams will race on Hayward Field at the University of Oregon during the national championship.

Making the leap · USC senior and hurdler Aleec Harris broke the West Regional and Pac-12 Conference record in the 110 meter hurdles event at the NCAA West Regional tournament in Fayetteville, Arkansas. – Photo Courtesy of USC Sports Information

On the men’s team, senior Aaron Brown qualified in both the 100 meter and 200 meter; redshirt senior Aleec Harris qualified in the 110 meter hurdles; junior BeeJay Lee qualified in the 100 meter and senior Viktor Fajoyomi qualified in the decathalon. On the women’s team, junior Alexandra Collatz qualified in the discus; junior Melia Cox qualified in both the triple jump and 100 meter hurdles; senior Jessica Davis qualified in the 100 meter; redshirt sophomore Tynia Gaither qualified in both the 100 meter and 200 meter; freshman Amalie Iuel qualified in the 400 meter hurdles; junior Vanessa Jones qualified in the 400 meter and senior Oluwakemi Olonade qualified in the triple jump.

In the relay races, both the men’s and women’s 4×100 meter relay as well as the women’s 4×400 relay team qualified. The men’s 4×100 team consists of Brown, Harris, Lee and redshirt senior Terrence Abram; the women’s 4×100 team is made up of Gaither, Davis, senior Loudia Laarman and sophomore Alexis Faulknor and Davis, Jones, junior Akawkaw Ndipagbor and senior Ashley Liverpool represented the 4×400 team.

A total of 16 athletes will don cardinal and gold at the national championship.

Harris set the Pac-12 record for fastest time in the men’s 110 meter hurdles with a time of 13.18 to win the event. Harris’s time broke a 36-year-old conference record. Greg Foster of UCLA set the previous record with a time of 13.22 in 1978. The time was a personal record for Harris and improved the school record of 13.32 that he had previously set. The time was also the fastest ran by any man in the country and second fastest in the world this year.

Brown ran the fifth fastest time in the world this year in the 200 meter with a time of 20.16. A native of Toronto, Canada, Brown broke the Canadian national record that was set in 1991. Brown also ran a 10.12 to qualify in the 100 meter. Lee ran a 10.16 to qualify in the 100 meter. Lee finished in fifth place in the event, five hundredths of a second behind the winner. Brown finished in second place. Fajoyomi is the 15th of 24 seeds nationally in the men’s decathlon after scoring 7,489 points in regionals.

Collatz qualified in the discus with a toss of 54.06 meters, finishing in fifth. Cox was the 12th and final runner to qualify in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.44. She also finished in 11th place in the triple jump with a distance of 12.69 meters. Davis finished ninth in the 100 meter at 11.52. While Gaither’s time of 11.63 trailed Davis’s, Gaither’s heat ran against a sizeable headwind, and Gaither’s wind-adjusted time was good enough for ninth place. Gaither’s time of 22.88 placed her fifth in the 200 meter. Iuel’s 58.10 in the 400 meter hurdles placed her 12th in the event. Jones placed fourth in the 400 meter with her time of 52.15. Olonade also placed ninth in the triple jump with her leap of 12.72 meters.

The men’s 4×100 meter relay team finished in ninth place with a time of 39.59. The women’s 4×100 meter relay team ran a 43.55 to finish in third place. The women’s 4×400 meter relay team placed fifth with at 3:31.94.

The team is led by Caryl Smith Gilbert, who was named director of track and field last June following the retirement of Ron Allice. Allice led the Trojans to 32 individual national championships during his 19-year tenure as the program’s head coach and also coached the women’s team national championship in 2001. Smith Gilbert was a former All-American sprinter at UCLA and was the head coach of the University of Central Florida’s women’s track and cross country teams before joining USC.

]]>USC names Ron Allice’s replacementhttp://dailytrojan.com/2013/06/18/usc-names-ron-allices-replacement/
http://dailytrojan.com/2013/06/18/usc-names-ron-allices-replacement/#commentsTue, 18 Jun 2013 23:25:21 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=67361Caryl Smith Gilbert will take over as the director of USC’s track and field program.

]]>For 15 years, Caryl Smith Gilbert has been molding champion track and field athletes and leaders east of the Mississippi. Beginning next season, however, she will move westward to Los Angeles where she will take the helm of the USC track and field program from Ron Allice, who held the position of director for the past 19 years.

Up-and-comer · Caryl Smith Gilbert’s Central Florida track and field team recorded a program-best fifth place finish at this year’s NCAA indoor and outdoor championships, capping off an impressive six-year run. – Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

Smith Gilbert will have large shoes to fill, as Allice oversaw nearly two decades of success, including 25 combined men’s and women’s NCAA Top 10 finishes. His tenure also saw the women’s team win the 2001 outdoor NCAA title, its first in school history.

Though the Trojans are losing a leader responsible for nearly unparalleled success, USC athletic director Pat Haden is confident in his choice for Allice’s successor.

“[Smith Gilbert] has a superb history of success in her career,” Haden said in a press release. “She knows how to develop athletes, as evidenced by the steady improvement of her UCF program and the number of records her athletes set. She has recruited very well and knows the recruiting landscape in California. And her athletes have performed incredibly well academically.”

Haden’s words are bolstered by Smith Gilbert’s accolades. In her six-year tenure as head coach of the women’s track and field and cross country teams at the University of Central Florida, the Knights captured six Conference USA titles. Her teams featured four NCAA individual champions and more than 50 conference titlists. Furthermore, her Knights teams produced more than 100 All-Americans and broke more than 100 school records. Not surprisingly, Smith Gilbert was named the C-USA coach of the year in each of her six years with the program.

Smith Gilbert’s crowning achievement with the Knights was her program-best fifth place finishes at this year’s NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. After assistant coaching tenures at Tennessee, Alabama and Penn State, and her run of success at UCF, she will be moving one more step up the ladder as director of USC’s track and field program, arguably one of the most historically successful track programs in the country.

“This is a tremendous opportunity, a huge opportunity,” Smith Gilbert said in a press release. “While it is difficult to leave the program we built at UCF and I will forever be thankful for the support I received there, I am very excited about becoming a USC Trojan.”

While the USC men’s track and field program has been a perennial powerhouse with 26 NCAA outdoor titles, two NCAA indoor titles, 35 conference titles and 113 individual titles, the women’s program has not been quite as decorated.

With Smith Gilbert’s experience on the women’s side of things, the Women of Troy can expect a big lift in the years to come.

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2013/06/18/usc-names-ron-allices-replacement/feed/1Nellum earns another top distinctionhttp://dailytrojan.com/2013/06/18/nellum-earns-another-top-distinction/
Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:23:18 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=67356Bryshon Nellum won the Pac-12 Male Track Athlete of the Year award after his stellar season.

]]>USC senior Bryshon Nellum, who closed out his USC career with an NCAA championship in the 400 meter last week in Oregon, was named the 2013 Pac-12 Male Track Athlete of the Year by commissioner Larry Scott on June 13.

Unrivaled · Senior Bryshon Nellum finished his USC career as the 2013 Pac-12 champion in both the 200 and 400 meter, becoming just the second athlete to accomplish the feat. He ran a personal record of 44.73 in the 400 meter final at the Pac-12 championships. – Kirby Lee | USC Sports information

In addition to this honor, the redshirt senior was also named the 2013 National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

At the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. held from June 5-8, Nellum placed third in the 200m final with a wind-aided time of 20.27, and dazzled Hayward Field with a personal record of 44.73 in the 400m final, which was the fastest time run by a collegiate runner in 2013. Nellum’s time was the fourth-fastest ever by a Trojan in the finals.

“For my college career, it painted a perfect picture,” expressed Nellum. “Coming from all my injuries and having that long journey, this was a happy ending, winning the national title in the 400m and finishing top three in the 200m. Overall I’ve had a wonderful career at SC.”

Nellum also claimed Pac-12 championship titles in both the 200m and 400m, making him the second conference athlete to ever do so.

The last year for Nellum has been quite exceptional,as he made the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team last June, reached the Olympic semifinals in the 400 meter and was a silver medalist for the 4×400 meter relay team. He would then go on to graduate in December, begin to pursue his graduate degree and then finally excel at the highest levels of collegiate track and field in the spring.

As Nellum wraps up his USC career, he leaves quite a legacy of honors and records behind to be admired by future USC sprinters.

]]>Led by the outstanding performances of sprinters Bryshon Nellum and Aaron Brown, the USC men’s track and field team placed fifth with its most points since 1977 at the 2013 NCAA Track and Field Championships, hosted by Oregon on June 8. The USC women’s team would tie for 21st in the team scoring after their 4×100 meter relay team places seventh to pocket the team 12 points.

Bright future · After sustaining a gunshot wound in his left leg in the fall of 2009, Bryshon Nellum battled back to win a silver medal in the 1600m relay at the 2012 London Olympic Games and looks ahead to competing in 2016. – Kirby Lee | USC Sports Information

On a lighter note, USC director of Track and Field Ron Allice announced his retirement following the meet, ending his successful 19-year run at the helm of the USC track and field program. His retirement is effective at the end of this month.

“It’s a good way to go out,” Allice said. “As I tell people all the time, in coaching, you have to figure out when it looks like you’re leading a parade not being chased [out] by a mob. I can’t say enough about the staff. I can’t say enough about the athletes. They performed. Everybody took care of business and that’s what you come here to do.”

Prior to the final day of competition, Nellum won the 400, senior Reggie Wyatt won the 400 hurdles, and Brown took fifth in the 100 to put USC tied with Texas for first (32 points) in the team competition going into the last day. This was quite the feat as the Trojans had five men entered in just seven events, while favorites like Texas A&M and Arkansas had athletes participating in 20 events. This small but mighty Trojan team brought back memories of the 1943 NCAA title team, which won the championship with only four athletes.

“It was a really special day for us all across the board,” Allice said. “I don’t think anyone else lit it up like us. We’ve been on fire. I’m walking about three feet off the ground right now. This is such a tough meet, and to do what we are doing is really special.”

All USC runners came out at their best, as each athlete ran a personal best in their races. Wyatt was the first Trojan male to do so, as he won the men’s 400 IH NCAA title with a personal record of 48.58 seconds With the win, Wyatt moved from fifth to third on USC’s all-time list in the event and became the first Trojan to win the event since two-time Olympic gold medalist Felix Sanchez won in 2000.

“It was my last collegiate race and I wanted to leave it all on the track,” Wyatt said. “I knew this was it. I felt like this was for all the marbles, what I’ve been training for my whole career.”

Next, Brown would go on to a personal record of 10.01 in the men’s 100 final. Brown’s 10.01 time was the fastest-ever in the event by a Trojan at the NCAA championships and he became the first USC runner to score in the 100 dash since Ahmad Rashad placed second in 2009.

Finally, Nellum gave Hayward Field a treat, winning the men’s 400 dash with a personal record of 44.73. Nellum’s time was the fourth-fastest ever by a Trojan in the finals.

“The race felt good,” Nellum said. “I controlled the first 200, and I made my move and came home. Coming off the curve coming home, I used my form and finished strong. I just had to run my own race, stay comfortable and finish strong. It’s a beautiful feeling. This was one of my goals and the reason I came back for my sixth year — to win a national championship. I was able to come back and win which is just what I came back for.”

In the final event of his college career, Nellum was competing to become only the third person ever to win both the men’s 200 and 400 dashes, but unfortunately, placed third with a wind-aided time of 20.27.

“For my college career, it painted a perfect picture,” Nellum said. “Coming from all my injuries and having that long journey, this was a happy ending, winning the national title in the 400 and finishing top three in the 200. Overall I’ve had a wonderful career at SC.”

Brown ran alongside Nellum in the 200 dash and placed fifth, making him and Nellum the first pair of Trojans to score in the event in the same season since 1978.

“I feel blessed, honestly,” Brown said. “I left it all on the line just like I wanted to. After all four races I felt good about all of them. Bryshon and I came out here and got top five. Can’t complain at all. Our team had five people, while A&M and Florida had 15 or 20. We’re kind of like 300 competing against this huge number of people and we did our best.”

With the completion of the NCAA championships, the USC track and field program will now enter the offseason and commence its search for a new director.

]]>Men’s and women’s track team splits for two meetshttp://dailytrojan.com/2013/04/17/mens-and-womens-track-team-splits-for-two-meets/
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 05:54:50 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=66111The USC men’s and women’s track and field teams play at Mt. SAC and the Twilight Open.

]]>With nearly two weeks having passed since they last competed, the No. 8-ranked USC men’s and women’s (NR) track and field teams are anxious to get back in the spotlight.

This weekend, they finally get their chance, as they will compete at the highly competitive Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. from April 18-20 and at the Cal State Los Angeles Twilight Meet on April 18.

The last time the Trojans competed was at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla. from April 5-6.

The Mt. SAC Relays, now in its 55th year, attracts top schools around the nation annually, and the Trojans will be seeing many of their Pac-12 foes in the field, such as Oregon, UCLA and Arizona State.

Some members of the team will also be heading to the Cal State L.A. Invitational, where more than 40 universities and junior colleges will be represented.

In the Florida Relays, USC fared well on both days against top-notch competition, but the best thing that happened to the team — on the men’s side, at least — was the return of senior Bryshon Nellum, who was cleared for competition after battling injuries, and ran his first 400-meter race of the season.

He got out of the starting blocks fast and maintained his blistering pace, posting the fastest 400-meter time in the country with a winning time of 45.54.

This is nothing new for Nellum. Last season he won the Pac-12 400-meter dash title and then ran a personal best of 44.80 to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. There, he brought home a silver medal in the 4×400 meter relay race.

In other men’s races, junior Aaron Brown, who was the Pac-12 male track athlete of the week for the week of April 1-7, won the 100m with a time of 10.15. He also placed second overall in the 200m dash with a time of 20.64.

Junior thrower Remington Conaster has had an impressive season so far. The transfer from Saddleback College moved into the top 10 of USC’s all-time hammer throw leaderboard with a mark of 219-4 at the Trojan Invitational on March 22. Hitting that mark was quite an impressive feat considering that Conaster did not even learn how to throw the hammer until the 2011 season.

Three USC women’s relay teams posted very impressive times, the most notable being the 4×100 relay team of junior Jenna Puterbaugh, junior Jessica Davis, sophomore Akawkaw Ndipagbor and junior Loudia Laarman. The group notched the top collegiate time and finished third overall with a season-best time of 44.20.

Another standout on the women’s side has been sophomore discus thrower Alexandra Collatz, who was stellar last season, when she set a USC freshman discus record in her very first meet. Collatz has continued that success this season, setting a personal best at the Cal-Nevada Championships on April 5 with a throw of 178-6, good for second on USC’s all-time list.

After this weekend, USC will have a dual meet against rival UCLA on April 27 before heading to the Pac-12 championships the following weekend.

]]>Men, women to compete on both coastshttp://dailytrojan.com/2013/04/04/men-women-to-compete-on-both-coasts/
Fri, 05 Apr 2013 05:43:18 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=65139The No. 8 men’s and No. 25 women’s teams are competing in both the Florida Relays and the Cal State L.A. Invitational.

]]>The Trojans are striving to continue their early season momentum on both the East and West Coasts this weekend. The No. 8 men’s and No. 25 women’s track and field teams are gearing up to compete in two events: the 69th annual Florida Relays and the Cal State L.A. Invitational.

“Primarily, we have built toward a crescendo in what we do in terms of preparing for major competition in the NCAA levels,” USC Director of Track and Field Ron Allice said of the Florida Relays. “This is our first exposure to not only some of the best collegians in the country, but also post-collegians who we will be competing with.”

The talent will be fierce at the storied Florida Relays, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The relays are one of the nation’s premier track and field meets, drawing athletes from high school, collegiate and international ranks.

The Trojans face highly ranked teams on both the men’s and women’s sides. On the men’s side, the Trojans will contend with the No. 3 Gators and the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles. Beyond the top-10 ranked teams, the Trojans will be joined by four other NCAA Division I programs: No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 17 Indiana, No. 23 Baylor and No. 25 Oklahoma State.

The Women of Troy will also face sizeable competition, including No. 6 Texas. Other notable women’s teams competing in the relays are No. 12 University of Central Florida, No. 14 Baylor and No. 19 Georgia.

Allice said the relays will provide a good challnege and measure of the season thus far in addition to helping prepare the team for critical meets that start at the end of this month.

“It is difficult to say whether we are ready yet,” Allice said. “It will give us a benchmark to let us know what we need to do in order to prepare ourselves for what occurs after this. There is a big push to be at our best at the end of this month into May and June.”

Freshman Tera Novy, who throws hammer for the women’s team, expressed excitement and high expectations for the Relays.

“My goal is to compete well and perform the best that I can,” Novy said. “I am very excited for the competition that will be competing at this meet.”

On the West Coast, the Trojans will compete at the Cal State L.A. Invitational, which will be held Friday through Saturday at the Jesse Owens Track in Los Angeles. The events will kickoff with the hammer at 9 a.m. today.

The Trojans and Women of Troy enter both meets coming off of three competitions last week, including a five-out-of-eight-event win at the Cal-Nevada Championships in La Jolla, Calif.

Novy, who finished third in the hammer with a strong throw of 163-7 (49.87 m), reported a positive experience at the Cal-Nevada Championships and noted that the meet provided her with a good opportunity to get another competition under her belt.

“My experience at the Cal-Nevada Championships was fun and full of learning,” Novy said. “I believe my team competed very well.”

In addition to the success at the Cal-Nevada Championships, the Trojans posted high marks at the Cal Multi-Events Championship last Friday. Notably, junior Viktor Fajoyomi scored 7,078 points to win his first career decathlon competition. Fajoyomi’s score places him a mere 20 points outside the Trojans’ all-time top-10 in the event.

“My primary goal was to get an NCAA qualifying mark at the meet,” Fajoyomi said. “But mainly I entered this meet to get a point, which helps me figure out what I need to improve on before my next decathlon competition at the Pac-12s. I was happy that I could win my first decathlon competition; however, the score was not what I was expecting.”

Fajoyomi hopes to qualify for the NCAA championships in the decathlon as well as assist his team in the high jump and long jump.

Following the Florida Relays and Cal State L.A. Invitational, the team will head to the Mount San Antonio College Relays on April 18-19 in Walnut, Calif.

]]>Looking to build on a strong showing at the Trojan Invitational last week, the No. 8 USC men’s and No. 23 women’s track and field teams will compete in two meets: the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., and the Cal-Nevada championships in La Jolla, Calif.

USC distance athletes will compete in the Stanford Invitational, and another set of runners and throwers will show their mettle in the Cal-Nevada championships. Both meets will commence today and continue through Saturday.

The Trojans enter these meets coming off a 10-event win, as well as wins in the men’s and women’s hammer throw, at Cromwell Field last weekend. As the season reaches its midpoint, the men’s and women’s teams are taking advantage of every opportunity to set high marks and produce strong performances going into the rest of the season.

“This is the time where we are trying to race and compete; run, jump and throw,” USC Director of Track and Field Ron Allice said. “This is the time to get good marks and standards, and progress towards the best we can be in April, May and June.”

Five of USC’s middistance athletes will join more than 3,300 athletes and 100 collegiate teams at Cobb Track & Angell Field for the 29th annual Stanford Invitational.

On the men’s side, sophomore Myles Andrews will race the 800m and senior Eric Battles will compete in the 1500m. Freshman Katerina Berdousi will run the 3000m and senior Shelby Buckley and sophomore Erica Capellino will represent the women’s team in the 800m and 1500m.

While the distance athletes are competing in the north, the men’s and women’s sprinters and throwers will be taking on 29 schools at Triton Track and Field Stadium. The Trojans will compete against 27 other California schools as well as UNLV and Nevada. The event will begin on Friday at noon with the men’s hammer, and continue through mid-afternoon on Saturday.

In addition to the two weekend meets, the team jump-started the week with several athletes competing in the decathlon at the 17th annual Cal Multi-Events Meet in Berkeley, Calif. The event included solid performances by junior Viktor Fajoyomi and sophomore Jemal Williams on the men’s team, and sophomore Kiana Henry on the women’s team. Several of the competitors did not have previous decathlon experience, including Fajoyomi.

“Fajoyomi is our high jump, triple jumper,” Allice said. “[We’re] converting him to see if he can do a decathlon. This is kind of an experiment.”

After completing their races this weekend, the teams have their sights set on a plethora of critical, and greatly anticipated, relays and meets.

“After this weekend, we will come back and get ready for the big push,” Allice said.

The team will strive to continue its momentum with the Florida Relays next week, as well as a two-day invitational at CSU Long Beach. Both competitions will help the team prepare for the Mt. San Antonio College Relays and the annual highly coveted USC-UCLA dual meet, where the USC and UCLA teams go head-to-head.

“The UCLA dual meet is one of the most watched and interesting meets of the year,” Allice said.

The team has a long road of racing, jumping and throwing ahead, but Allice is confident that each meet will prove valuable in helping his athletes get in optimal condition going into the bigger competitions and NCAA championships.

“At this time, we are trying to improve on fitness levels and performance levels,” Allice said.

]]>Trojan track stars invited to compete in Olympicshttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/06/26/trojan-track-stars-invited-to-compete-in-olympics/
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 23:39:53 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=51527Bryshon Nellum and three other collegiate athletes will run in the 400-meter relay.

]]>USC senior Bryshon Nellum and sophomore Josh Mance qualified for the U.S. Olympic team after their efforts at the U.S. track & field Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., on Sunday.

Nellum, who suffered gunshot wounds to each of his thighs and his left hamstring in 2008, placed third in the 400-meter dash with a personal record of 44.8 seconds.

Heading to London · Senior Bryshon Nellum will run for the United States in the 400-meter dash at the 2012 Olympics. Nellum ran a personal best 44.8 at the qualifiers on Sunday in Eugene, Ore. - Photo courtesy of Sports Information

With about 70 meters left in the race, Nellum rallied from sixth place and edged Mance and Manteo Mitchell to capture the final spot on the 400-meter team.

“I kept faith in God, kept going day by day, kept working hard and stayed dedicated,” he said in a statement.

Nellum’s time is good for fourth on USC’s all-time 400-meter dash list. He will join LaShawn Merritt and Florida’s Tony McQuay to make up the 400-meter team.

With a time of 44.88 seconds, Mance finished fourth and missed a spot on the 400-meter team but qualified for the 4×400-meter relay pool.

“We have worked on finishes and they both did that very well today,” USC director of track and field Ron Allice said in a statement. “All the credit goes to them.”

USC alumni Jesse Williams and Duane Solomon also made the U.S. Olympic team in the men’s high jump and men’s 800-meter dash, respectively.

Though Williams placed fourth in the high jump finals on Monday, he has jumped the Olympic A standard qualifying height of 7-foot-7 this year while third-place finisher Nick Ross did not, giving Williams the nod to represent the United States.

Solomon ran a 1:44.65 in the 800-meter dash, which surpassed the Olympic A standard qualifying time that he had yet to fulfill. His finish was just .01 seconds behind second-place finisher Khadevis Robinson.

The U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials will resume Thursday, where senior Dalilah Muhammad will run the women’s 400-meter individual hurdles, senior Aareon Payne will run the women’s 200-meter dash and junior Reggie Wyatt will run the men’s 400-meter individual hurdles.

USC alumni Brendan Ames, Logan Taylor and Ryan Wilson will all participate in the first round of men’s 110-meter high hurdles round on Friday.

]]>Men place 11th, women 24th at NCAA championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/06/12/men-place-11th-women-24th-at-ncaa-championships/
Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:10:20 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=51365The men’s team finishes out of the top 10 for the fifth time in the past 18 seasons, while the Women of Troy relay team finishes seventh.

]]>The men’s 4×400-meter relay placed second while the women’s 4×100-meter relay placed seventh in the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday.

Senior Joey Hughes, senior Bryshon Nellum, junior Reggie Wyatt and sophomore Josh Mance ran the second-fastest 4×400-meter relay in USC history with a 3:00.64 finish, while Florida took the race with a 3:00.02 finish.

Second to one · Senior Bryshon Nellum helped lead the Trojan 4x400-meter relay team to a second-place finish in the NCAA championships. The Trojan men’s team finished in 11th place overall. - Photo courtesy of Sports Information

The Trojans needed a first-place finish in the men’s relay race to place in the top 10 among a field of more than 350 schools.

Instead, the men ended the meet in 11th place with 20 points, making it just the fifth time in the last 18 seasons that they did not finish in the top 10.

“Naturally, I’m disappointed, but we were the top finisher on the men’s side among private schools, and that is significant,” USC director of track and field Ron Allice said in a statement.

The women’s 4×100-meter relay team, composed of senior Aareon Payne, sophomores Jessica Davis and Loudia Laarman, and freshman Akawkaw Ndipagbor, placed seventh with a 44.24 time to give USC two team points.

It was the 14th time overall — and fourth time in the last seven seasons — that the women’s relay team scored at the NCAA championships.

The women’s team finished tied for 24th with 13 points.

Sophomore Aaron Brown, the lone individual male competing for the Trojans on Saturday, placed seventh in the men’s 200-meter dash from the second lane with a time of 21.13.

Brown earned his first All-America honors for his efforts and became the first Trojan male to score in the race since Ahmad Rashad placed eighth in 2007.

“Brown had a vastly improved season,” Allice said. “His performance here didn’t reflect how well he ran all season. [He ran] into a strong headwind, and his body build is not the type to be running into a strong wind.”

Junior Alitta Boyd could not advance to the finals after fouling on all three attempts of the women’s triple jump. During the preliminary rounds, Boyd set a personal record of 43-8.50 (13.2m) to move into fourth all-time on USC’s triple jump list.

Nellum’s honor comes just a few years after he was the victim of a random shooting in 2009, where he-was shot in the leg. He ran a career-best 45.18 in the open 400-meter.

Thirteen Trojans earned first-team All-America honors, including each member of the men’s and women’s relay.

Also earning top honors were Brown in the 200-meter, Wyatt in the 400-meter individual hurdles, senior Dalilah Muhammad in the 400-meter individual hurdles, senior Kristine Busa in javelin, and senior Marissa Minderler and sophomore Jenny Ozorai in hammer.

Second-team All-America honors went to Brown in the 100-meter dash, Hughes and Nellum in the 400-meter relay, freshman Alexandra Collatz in discus and freshman Daniel Szabo in hammer.

Earning honorable mention All-American honors were senior Jade Niemeyer in hammer, sophomore Lauren Blackburn in the 100-meter high hurdles, freshman Marqise Lee in long jump and freshman Davonte Stewart in the 200-meter dash.

“We have some outstanding athletes returning,” Allice said. “We want to have a very successful season in 2013 with the fact that we host the Pac-12 conference championships.”

]]>Coming into this weekend’s competitions with a number of injuries, it seemed unclear if USC would be able to work through significant injuries on the men’s and women’s track and field teams.

The team started off a busy weekend at the annual Cal State Los Angeles Twilight Open. The huge outdoor meet, which consisted of more than 60 universities and clubs, took place fairly close to home at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Good showing · Sophomore sprinter Jessica Davis and the rest of the track and field team had several athletes place in the top five in their events. - Photo courtesy of Sports Information

In addition, the team competed at three different meets from Thursday to Saturday; a heavy schedule coming off of Easter weekend break. The meets resulted in a number of individual USC victories.

The Trojans came out of the Twilight Open with a single victory, while the Women of Troy also secured a few top-five finishes. Senior James Leckie captured the sole USC victory for the track and field team, winning the men’s 1500-meter with a time of 3:59.44. The time is a new personal record for Leckie, who usually runs the 800-meter and 1500-meter.

Senior co-captain Dalilah Muhammad finished second in the women’s 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 13.55, while fellow senior Anniya Louis finished second in the women’s 800-meter with a time of 2:14.42 (a season best).

Senior Tamara Baumann placed second in the women’s hammer throw, posting a mark of 54.02 meters, followed closely by redshirt junior Ashley Pyka in third with a mark of 53.14 meters.

Though squads did compete at the CSLA Twilight Open, much of the team’s effort focused on the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. The multi-day event that took place at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif., and featured a number of Olympic development races in addition to regular intercollegiate events.

The competition represented an important acid-test for the team as the Summer Olympics inch close; a number of USC athletes will be competing for the United States as well as other countries in the upcoming Olympic Games. A few athletes, particularly star sophomore Jessica Davis, made their season debuts at the meet, and the competition was an important indicator of the team’s performance at the collegiate level midway through the season as well.

USC finished the Mt. SAC Relays with a single win and a handful of top-five placements. Freshman Davonte Stewart finished first in the men’s 200- meter dash Olympic Development race, followed closely by fellow USC sophomore Aaron Brown.

In a wildly dramatic race, senior Bryshon Nellum fought on to achieve a personal record of 45.18 in the men’s 400-meter while also setting the nationally leading collegiate time. Unfortunately in the very same race senior co-captain Joey Hughes succumbed to an existing hamstring injury and was unable to compete for the rest of the weekend.

]]>USC heads to a trio of crucial California meetshttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/04/18/usc-heads-to-a-trio-of-crucial-california-meets/
Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:18:53 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=50122Though injuries have hindered the men’s and women’s teams, the three competitions are a chance to regain some rhythm.

Thursday through Saturday the team competes at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut, Calif.

Acting as a final performance test before the big meet with UCLA, this weekend’s meets are crucial to the track and field department’s continued success.

Whether or not these injuries will affect the team’s performance as the outdoor season continues is a serious question.

A number of nagging hamstring injuries have kept many of USC’s top athletes from performing at the most recent meets, in track events as well as on the field.

The Trojans and the Women of Troy have set several personal records, but these achievements will mean little if many of teams’ athletes are performing at partial strength through the season.

Easter weekend was a rare break for the USC track and field squad; the weekend prior to that saw the team competing at three events across the nation.

Though the team should be well-rested following the holiday, it remains unclear whether injuries — both old and new — will continue to play a part in the team’s efforts. In particular, a number of aggravating hamstring injuries to both the men’s and women’s teams continue to hinder the efforts of USC’s prestigious outdoor track program in the 2012 season.

The injury simultaneously disqualified the record-setting men’s 400-meter relay team at the Texas Relays, while raising questions about whether Mance should make attempts at recovery instead of competing.

Mance previously achieved leading 400-meter times, and his recovery is crucial to the relay team’s success.

Likewise, the Women of Troy face mounting issues regarding injuries. Sophomore sprinter Jessica Davis has not been competing in previous weeks because of a sore hamstring. Davis remains one of the Women of Troy’s top performers.

If Davis recovers by the time this weekend’s events roll around, it will be the first time she competes this outdoor season for USC.

The track and field team did not compete at full-strength at the meets, although more athletes competed at the BYU Triple Meet with hosts BYU and Boise State.

The Trojans entered the weekend ranked eighth in the nation, while the Women of Troy entered ranked fourth.

The track and field team did not send many athletes to Stanford or CSULA, opting instead to focus its competitive strength at the BYU-Boise State-USC Triple Meet.

As a result, only a handful of athletes competed at CSULA’s Tiny Lister Classic on Friday and Saturday, joined by a few more competing at the Stanford Relays.

Senior Joey Hughes captured the sole win for the USC Trojans at the Tiny Lister Classic, posting a time of 45.99 seconds to win the men’s 400-meter dash — a season-record for the senior.

USC did not secure any wins at the Stanford Relays on Friday.

The teams found success at BYU’s Tri-Meet, and USC track and field came out of the meet with several wins at the single day event Saturday.

Junior Reggie Wyatt capped a win for the Trojans in the men’s 800-meter, posting a final time of 1:51.92.

Senior James Leckie also placed in the men’s 800-meter, finishing close behind Wyatt with a time of 1:53.13 to clinch second.

Freshman Allen Williams placed second in both men’s 110-meter hurdles as well as men’s triple jump, posting a time of 14.79 and a mark of 14.35m. Other Trojans that placed in Saturday’s tri-meet included junior Eric Stein, who placed third in men’s hammer throw, and senior Duane Walker placed third in men’s 400-meter hurdles.

Senior Aareon Payne won two separate events for the Women of Troy, finishing first in both women’s 100-meter dash and women’s 200-meter dash, posting times of 11.60 seconds and 23.69, respectively.

Sophomore Loudia Laarman also placed in the same events, finishing in close second in the women’s 100-meter with a time of 11.73, and finishing in third in the women’s 200-meter with a time of 24.55.

]]>Three meets to have Trojan participantshttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/04/05/three-meets-to-have-trojan-participants/
Fri, 06 Apr 2012 05:30:52 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=48789The USC track and field squad will be spread out this weekend in multiple competitions.

]]>With the preseason now long gone, the USC track and field team competes this weekend at three different meets across the country. Coming into the second week of the official NCAA outdoor season, the men’s and women’s teams are ranked among the top 10 nationwide alongside traditional track powers such as Arkansas and LSU.

Clearing all obstacles · Sophomore hurdler Lauren Blackburn was a second team All-American during her first season at USC. - Photo courtesy of Sports Information

The Trojans leaped five spots upward and are now ranked eighth nationally. The Women of Troy fell from third and are currently ranked fourth nationally, trading positions with Clemson in the process. Despite being ranked among the best teams in the nation, the future remains uncertain for the USC outdoor team as the competition picks up.

Additionally, injuries — both old and new — are another hurdle for the team as they push through a long and difficult weekend at the beginning of the season. Select athletes will first compete at the Stanford Invitational, and then the majority of the team travels to Provo, Utah, to compete at the BYU-USC-Boise State Triple Meet. The majority of the USC track and field team will then finish the weekend at the Tiny Lister Classic, held at Cal State Los Angeles.

The men’s 4×400-meter team — alternately consisting of senior Bryshon Nellum, seniors Joey Hughes and Duane Walker, junior Reggie Wyatt and Mance — previously achieved the nation’s leading time in the men’s 4×400-meter relay at USC’s own Trojan Invitational with a time of 3:02.24. A sore hip-flexor muscle sidelined Wyatt at the Texas Relays, although Nellum fought through the pain of a past gunshot wound to complete the first portion of the relay. Following Mance’s injury, the team was disqualified from the 4×400-meter competition at the Texas Relays.

With three of their five athletes injured to some degree, the men’s 4×400-meter team enters this weekend’s events at partial-strength.

This is not to suggest that the entire department’s achievements are contingent on the performance of a single group. The USC track and field team has exhibited depth, going so far as to employ the skills of USC football players this season to gain the advantage. Sophomore Marqise Lee, a wide-out for the Trojan football team, has the nation’s leading mark in long jump among collegiate football players that also participate in track. Senior Tony Burnett, usually seen playing defensive back for USC, also carries this distinction in triple jump.

Additional football players that compete in track include junior Nickell Robey — also competing in long jump — and redshirt sophomore D.J. Morgan, competing in sprints.

These victories prove that the outdoor team is capable of going toe-to-toe with top-ranked teams, an important fact considering that the competition will only get tougher as the season continues.

Regardless of the performance that track and field gave on Friday and Saturday, the outdoor season remains unclaimed and USC will again be competing this weekend to test their skills against top-ranked Division I teams.

USC travels south to compete at the annual Texas Relays, held at the University of Texas, Austin.

The four-day event begins today, but the first day features only the heptathlon and decathlon.

The individual and relay events, which USC will be participating in, do not start until Thursday.

Though the name suggests otherwise, the competition does not only consist of relays and will feature numerous individual events in addition to field events.

The meet will feature nationally recognized competition that includes Arkansas, Oregon and Texas A&M.

The Trojans come into the meet ranked 13th nationally; the Women of Troy enter the meet ranked third.

The events held at Texas are the first competition of the official outdoor season for many of the participating teams, and as such represent the beginning of the campaign to achieve ultimate glory at the NCAA outdoor championships.

How the team will perform outdoors has yet to be seen, but there is an even bigger stage that USC (or at least USC’s athletes) will be competing on this summer.

Even if the NCAA finals remain the most immediate goal for the track and field team, the possibility of competing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London motivates the performances of many athletes this season.

“It’s a time when people recognize our sport, a time when our athletes start to receive the most recognition and exposure [referring to the Summer Olympics]. It is a time when people within our sport have an aspiration to not only represent their school, but also to represent their country,” Director of Track and Field Ron Allice said.

After considering the exposure and recognition awarded by of the Olympic games, even the most important NCAA event seems relatively insignificant.

USC has sent numerous Olympians, many of them international, to the games and this year will be no different.

Allice estimates the number of athletes that USC will send to London to be in the “double-digits.”

With the possibility of international glory motivating many athletes, the track and field team will undoubtedly have the championships, as well as the Olympics, on their minds as they seek victory against their opponents Thursday.

]]>First outdoor event of the season comes up a successhttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/03/25/first-outdoor-event-of-the-season-comes-up-a-success/
http://dailytrojan.com/2012/03/25/first-outdoor-event-of-the-season-comes-up-a-success/#commentsSun, 25 Mar 2012 23:43:38 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=47665Hosting their first event of the spring season, the Trojans took first place in 12 events.

]]>The USC track and field team defended home ground during Saturday’s Trojan Invitational at Loker Stadium. The meet was not only the first outdoor event of the year to be held at USC, but the first to pit USC against more skilled competition consisting of teams ranked in the top 25.

The invitational was an important benchmark for the team in the outdoor season. Its performance gave an early idea as to how the squad might perform as the season goes on.

Taking first place in 12 different events, the team barely inched past rivals Oregon and Texas A&M, both of whom won 10 events. Texas A&M has defended the NCAA men’s outdoor title for the past three years and Oregon just recently won the NCAA women’s indoor title.

Regardless of past performances, these three teams dominated the invitational and regularly placed in the top three during both days of the meet. The competition remained close to the very end, culminating in the men’s 4×400-meter relay, a neck-and-neck battle between Texas A&M and USC that featured several dramatic lead changes.

Despite the intense competition, USC prevailed in the men’s 4×400-meter, simultaneously taking most event wins while preventing Texas A&M from tying for the same title. With that victory, the men’s 4×400-meter relay team (consisting of sophomore Josh Mance, junior Reggie Wyatt and seniors Joey Hughes and Bryshon Nellum) set a school record and world-leading time of 3:02.24 for the 2012 outdoor season.

Key victories for USC on the field included first-place finishes in both men’s and women’s long jump.

USC also clinched several key victories on the track, a number of them over rival Texas A&M. Sophomore Aaron Brown took first place in the men’s 100-meter, although Texas A&M’s Dominique Duncan beat sophomore Loudia Laarman in the women’s 100-meter.

Senior Zsofia Erdelyi secured the first win for the Women of Troy, taking top honors in the women’s 3000-meter. Mance won the men’s 400-meter while Wyatt won the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

]]>A single centimeter made all the difference for USC Track and Field two weekends ago in Nampa, Idaho.

Competing among the best in the nation, junior Alitta Boyd was USC’s sole representative at the NCAA Division-I Indoor Championships on March 9 and 10.

Weathering the storm · Senior Melissa Minderler took first place in the javelin at the Northdridge Invitational, despite tough weather. - Photo courtesy of Sports Information

Before entering the meet, she had previously placed in long jump at Division I competitions such as the New Balance Collegiate Invitational and Texas A&M Invitational. Boyd jumped 6.18 meters, missing the cutoff for the finals by a centimeter.

She was moved out of position by the University of Central Florida’s Sonnisha Williams, who clinched the spot at finals with a 6.19 meter jump during flight two. The men’s team did not compete indoors, and the women’s team was unable to qualify in other events. Robbed of a last stab at victory, the USC Trojans did not walk away with any championship wins at the NCAA finals.

The indoor season might be over and done, but USC is still preparing for outdoors. Last weekend USC competed at the Northridge Invitational, but field conditions did not look favorable and USC pulled out for the majority of the meet.

“The conditions were terrible, and the weather didn’t hold up,” USC coach Ron Allice said. “Outside of the hammer competition on Friday the majority of the team did not compete.”

Though most of the Trojans track and field squad did not participate in last weekend’s meet, USC still managed to secure a win. Senior captain Marissa Minderler finished first in women’s javelin throw with a final distance of 40.98 meters. Minderler previously finished third at the Ben Brown Invitational at Long Beach State.

Bad weather conditions might have prevented the Trojans from competing at full strength during last weekend’s meet, but they continue to prepare for the upcoming Trojan Invitational, taking place at USC’s Loker Stadium. The Trojans will not only be defending their home turf but will also be proving themselves against stiff competition from top-25 teams for the first time in the outdoor season.

“This is the best track meet outside of the major conference meets,” Allice said of the Trojan Invitational. “Outside of those, there is no meet in the country that is bringing in the quality of teams that the Trojan Invitational does.” Opponents include Oregon, who won the NCAA Women’s Indoor Championship, as well as Texas A&M, who will be defending the men’s national title for the third year in a row.

]]>Trojans compete in long jump at indoor championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/03/09/trojans-compete-in-long-jump-at-indoor-championships/
Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:40:09 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=47153The outdoor season is just beginning, but the USC track and field team has business to take care of in the indoor season. The team secured a number of wins at their outdoor meet and finished first in the women’s 4x400m relay at last Friday’s NCAA Last Chance meet in Seattle, Washington. The relay team […]

]]>The outdoor season is just beginning, but the USC track and field team has business to take care of in the indoor season.

The team secured a number of wins at their outdoor meet and finished first in the women’s 4x400m relay at last Friday’s NCAA Last Chance meet in Seattle, Washington. The relay team — freshmen Akawkaw Ndipagbor and Vanessa Jones, sophomore Jenna Puterbaugh and senior co-captain Dalilah Muhammad — achieved the best 4×4 relay time at the meet with a time of 3:37.57, but it was not enough.

The team failed to make qualifying marks for the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships that will take place Friday and Saturday in Nampa, Idaho.

“We just missed qualifying in the 4×4,” coach Ron Allice said. “We could have maybe waited for some scratches, but we felt that we couldn’t run faster, and we needed to be more concerned with being prepared for outdoor [competitions].”

Despite this loss, the Trojans will still compete at Jackson Indoor Track Friday and Saturday. Junior Alitta Boyd will be the sole representative for the Trojans at the Indoor Championships, competing in the long jump.

As the team wraps up their commitments in the indoor track and field season, the outdoor season will consume the rest of the track and field efforts. Though the Trojans will have two meets — a meet this weekend at Cal State Fullerton and a meet next weekend at Cal State Northridge — before competing at home, the team will be mentally and physically preparing for USC’s own Trojan Invitational.

The meet will be the first event featuring serious Division I competition, and will be the first in a string of Division I meets, including the Texas Relays and the Stanford Invite.

“[We will] need a few acid tests before we get to the dual meet conference,” Allice said.

Though upcoming meets will be a factor in the team’s performance in the outdoor season, they can be of even greater significance for the 2012 Olympics. At a time when international recognition of track and field is at its peak, the Trojans will train and prepare their athletes for not only the NCAA Championships, but the Olympics as well.

]]>On Saturday, USC’s men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to College Station, Texas to compete in the Texas A&M Indoor Invitational. The single-day event, which took place in Gilliam Indoor Stadium, saw the A&M Aggies host seven other teams: Alabama, Baylor, Houston, Missouri, Rice, Texas Christian University and the University of Texas El Paso.

Up and over · Sophomore Viktor Fajoyomi finished second in the long jump and the high jump at the Texas A&M Indoor Invitational, contributing to the Trojan men’s ninth-place finish. - Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

The men’s team arrived to compete ranked outside the top-25 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the third week of the indoor season. The Women of Troy came into the meet with a ranking of 68.

All schools came to the College Station following A&M’s New Balance Collegiate Invitational performance, in which the Aggie men placed first (10 points ahead of rival Lousiana State University) and the Aggie women placed fourth.

The individual titles the Aggies earned at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational would carry over to the Indoor Invitational. Texas A&M men’s and women’s teams finished first in points — the men by a margin of 106 points, and the women by a margin of 57.5. The USC men’s team finished ninth with 22 points, and the USC women’s team finished eighth with 43 points.

The USC men’s team placed in three individual events at the meet. Sophomore Viktor Fajoyomi finished second in two events: long jump (7.26 m) and high jump (2.04 m). Freshman Allen Williams finished third in the men’s 60 m hurdles.

The women placed in two individual events and one relay event. Freshman Melia Cox finished second in the triple jump with a leap of 40-2 (12.24 m). Junior Alitta Boyd finished third in the long jump (5.99 m).

Payne and Ndipagbor went on to finish fifth and seventh, respectively, in the women’s 200 m dash finals. Muhammad also finished sixth in the Women’s 60 m Hurdles, with sophomore Lauren Blackburn finishing seventh. Senior Anniya Louis placed seventh in the women’s 800.

USC’s track and field teams placed in more events than its previous meet, the New Balance Collegiate Invitiational in New York. The Texas A&M Invitational is the final indoor meet before the conference championships are held.

Texas A&M rose above the competition at Gilliam Stadium with the Aggies recording 15 total wins at the meet. Missouri finished second in the men’s standings with 95 points; Baylor finished third with 82. Baylor also finished second in the women’s standings with 118 points while Missouri finished third with 77 points. The track and field team’s next scheduled event is Feb. 25 at the Claremont Relays in Claremont, Calif.

]]>Track and field teams prepare for indoor challengehttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/02/10/track-and-field-teams-prepare-for-indoor-challenge/
Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:50:37 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=45001With a strong performance to begin the season at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York, the men’s and women’s track and field teams continue to prepare for the upcoming Texas A&M Challenge, which will take place Saturday. The teams are seeking to prove themselves against the toughest indoor track competitors nationwide. USC has traditionally […]

]]>With a strong performance to begin the season at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York, the men’s and women’s track and field teams continue to prepare for the upcoming Texas A&M Challenge, which will take place Saturday.

The teams are seeking to prove themselves against the toughest indoor track competitors nationwide. USC has traditionally proven successful in the outdoor season; the men have won 26 NCAA championships while the women won their first championship in 2001.

But contrary to the outdoor team’s dominance, track and field has held relatively little influence indoors, claiming only two NCAA titles. Despite this apparent lack of success in the spring, the program is continuing to grow indoors.

During their competition in New York, the teams faced stiff competition from colleges with traditionally stronger programs, including the University of Oregon and the University of Florida. The team came out of the meet with a single win, with junior Alitta Boyd jumping 20’9-3/4″ to win women’s long jump.

Despite the lack of individual wins, the women’s team managed to finish 18th overall, thanks to the efforts of sophomore Jessica Davis and senior Dalilah Muhammad. Davis placed sixth in the 200 m dash finals, while Muhammad — competing at her last New Balance Invitational — finished eighth in the 60-meter hurdle.

This growth is attributable to longtime USC Track & Field Director Ron Allice, who has been building both programs for more than 16 years. Allice, who has led the program to enormous success: 10 men’s individual titles and USC’s only women’s team title in 2001. Allice continues to build the foundation for a storied chapter of USC athletics that has dominated collegiate track and field, seeking to add yet another set of plaques to the National and Olympic Monuments in Loker Stadium.

]]>USC competes in New York invitationalhttp://dailytrojan.com/2012/02/05/usc-competes-in-new-york-invitational/
Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:35:33 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=44463Competing in their second meet of the year, the Women of Troy looked to open strong.

]]>The USC women’s track and field team arrived in New York on Friday, ready to compete in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. The event at The Armory is one the largest indoor meets of the season, bringing in top-25 teams including Lousiana State University and Arkansas.

Despite being ranked 109th by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the women’s team sought to carry over a strong performance from its latest meet at the Run For The Dream event, three weeks prior.

During the two-day Run For the Dream event in Fresno, Calif. the team broke several meet records and posted seven wins. The event, Jan. 20-21, was the first indoor meet of the season. Sophomore Lauren Blackburn competed in the 55-meter hurdle, breaking the record twice and posting a final overall time of 7.83 seconds. Sophomores Jessica Davis and Loudia Laarman also ran record-breaking times in the 55-meter dash, although Davis would go on to match Laarman’s time in the final heat for the win.

Senior Anniya Louis ran a winning time of 2:19.06 in the 800-meter. Freshmen Erin Robinson and Vanessa Jones both won in their events, the 3000-meter and 600-yard dash respectively.

Additionally, the relay team won in the 4×145-meter and 4×400-meter relay, breaking a meet record in the former. Though these were big wins for the women’s indoor track and field team, the Women of Troy’s skill would be put to the test during the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.

At the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, the team finished 18th. Despite a strong start to the season, sophomore Alitta Boyd would be the only USC athlete to win any of the championship events, posting a 6.33-meter jump to win women’s long jump. Davis would finish sixth in the women’s 200-meter dash and senior Dalilah Muhammad finishing eighth in the 60-meter hurdle.

These rankings should not be taken out of context; the competition at a national event such as the New Balance Collegiate Invitational is far superior to the competition at a smaller meet such as Run For The Dream.

Despite competition from some of the country’s best teams, the USC women’s track and field team gave a strong performance at this year’s New Balance Collegiate Invitational and will look to build upon the showing on Friday at the Texas A&M Indoor Challenge.

]]>Women of Troy place 12th in Pac-12 championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/30/women-of-troy-place-12th-in-pac-12-championships/
http://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/30/women-of-troy-place-12th-in-pac-12-championships/#commentsMon, 31 Oct 2011 01:52:52 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=40357USC heads to Palo Alto in two weeks to compete in the regional championships.

]]>Facing some of the nation’s toughest squads in what proved to be a grueling test, the USC women’s cross-country team finished 12th at this weekend’s Pac-12 championships.

The 6-kilometer race circling Wigwam Golf Course in Litchfield, Ariz., pitted the Women of Troy against UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, California and the rest of the conference.

“The Pac-12 is the toughest cross country conference in the country,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “We lacked the big race experience that you need to do well in a meet like this. But I am confident that we will learn from this experience and get better in the future.”

Junior Shelby Buckley finished first for the Women of Troy in 22:01 for 78th place overall. Freshman Erica Capellino and redshirt freshman Katie DeYoung followed, finishing in 22:41 and 22:43, taking home 92nd and 93rd, respectively.

Freshman Kira Soderstrom placed 97th with a time of 22:54 and fellow freshman Shannon Byrne finished in 23:18 at 105th place. Freshman Erin Robinson ran a 24:07 and finished in 109th. Sophomore Jaclyn Walles did not finish. the race.

The team’s overall average time was 22:44, 1:30 slower than that of Pac-12 champion Colorado.

“The Pac-12 race didn’t go as well as we wanted it to,” Walsh said. “It was a very difficult challenge for our five freshmen walk on athletes to mix it up with several NCAA and Footlocker All-Americans.”

The next step will be the regional championships in Palo Alto on Nov. 12 in the path to the NCAA national championships.

Walsh said last Thursday that he would evaluate the team after the Pac-12 championships.

Walsh has the option of sending a few individuals or a team of runners to regional championships, based on whom he believes has a better chance at qualifying for the national championships.

Though this season featured one of the youngest teams in USC’s competitive history, this year’s cross-country team has done promisingly well, according to Walsh.

With one or two more seasons of collegiate experience, the coaching staff feels this unit has much room to grow.

“I am happy with the progress that this team made throughout the season,” Walsh said. “Most of the girls on the team improved by 30-40 seconds from a year ago, and that is very impressive. I hope that the improvement continues as we move forward to track season in the spring, and into cross country next year.”

Colorado captured the first-place title, while Washington came in second and Stanford finished third.

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/30/women-of-troy-place-12th-in-pac-12-championships/feed/1USC set to compete in Pac-12 championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/27/usc-set-to-compete-in-pac-12-championships/
Fri, 28 Oct 2011 06:26:44 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=40209The Women of Troy will try to qualify for the NCAA national championships in two weeks.

“We’ve been resting this past week and getting the girls’ legs fresh and ready for the competition on Saturday,” Walsh said. “Everyone is excited. It’s going to be the best conference meet in the country.”

Five of the top 11 teams in the country will race this weekend. Washington is ranked No. 2 in the country, though No. 8 Stanford has won the cross-country conference title in 13 of the past 15 seasons. USC will also race against No. 5 Arizona, No. 10 California, No. 11 Oregon and No. 16 Colorado. The Pac-12 is arguably one of the most competitive divisions in the country when it comes to cross-country.

“I’m not going to make any predictions about our placement because the only thing I can control is how our girls do,” Walsh said. “There’s no defense in the sport of cross-country. We can only worry about ourselves and do what we can do.”

Walsh notes DeYoung is one runner to watch during the race. Though DeYoung has not been a major contributor in the season so far, she has performed consistently and will be an asset to the team in Litchfield.

“She’s been behind the radar and quietly doing everything I’ve asked her to do,” Walsh said. “She’s really picked up the pace in practice and has made great progress.”

After the Pac-12 championships, USC will head to the NCAA regional championships in Palo Alto, Calif., on Nov. 12. Runners will be able to qualify for the NCAA national championships at the meet.

“We’ll evaluate to see where we are after [Arizona],” Walsh said. “Sometimes we send a team [to regionals] if we think that team is good enough to qualify for nationals, and sometimes we send individuals. This meet will be a deciding factor.”

]]>The USC women’s cross-country team competed in its final non-championship race of the season, finishing fourth at the 2011 Cal State Fullerton Titan Invitational. The 5K course wound around the Cal State Fullerton campus, resulting in a flat, fast race.

The team, consisting of only seven of USC’s runners, finished behind Cal State San Marcos, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara for a total time of 1:33:42.00, or an 18:44.40 average.

Junior Shelby Buckley led the team with a fifth-place finish and a time of 17:43.8, setting her collegiate 5K personal record.

“[Buckley] competed very well and her racing instincts seem to be coming back,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “This will help her mentally and physically as we head to Tempe next week for the Pac-12 championships.”

The next USC runner to cross the finish line was junior Kelly Owen in 24th place with 18:32.3, only a few seconds off her personal record set at last year’s Titan Invitational. Owen was followed closely by freshman Austin Lundin with a time of 18:39.2, another personal best. Junior Jessica Lundin finished in 36th, followed by freshman Erin Matranga in 38th. Rounding out the USC team were sophomore Anna Burger, with a 20:03.3 time in 46th place and sophomore Francesca Adamski, placing 55th with 20:51.5.

“Kelly Owen and Austin Lundin both had excellent races,” Walsh said. “Owen passed five girls in the last 150 meters to finish up a strong race. Lundin really pushed the last mile of the race.”

Owen, typically seen as a middle-distance runner, has performed well in this season’s long-distance cross-country races. Her impressive results in 5K and 6K races this season have made her a valuable asset to the team. Freshman Austin Lundin also shattered her previous personal best of 19:25.0.

The Titan Invitational was the last for all runners except Buckley, who will compete next weekend at the Pac-12 championships in Tempe, Ariz. The seven girls entered in that race are Buckley, freshmen Erica Capellino, Kira Soderstrom, Erin Robinson and Shannon Byrne, sophomore Jaclyn Walles and redshirt freshman Katie DeYoung.

“Everything is on target for this team to run its best race of the season next week at the Pac-12 championships,” Walsh said.

]]>USC off and running at Titan Invitationalhttp://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/20/usc-off-and-running-at-titan-invitational/
Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:18:18 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=39608The USC cross-country team looks to follow up last week’s impressive second place at the Titan Invitational on the Cal State Fullerton campus, the last non-championship race of the season this weekend. The 5k race will begin at 5:00 p.m. today on the Cal State Fullerton campus. This is the first night race this season, […]

]]>The USC cross-country team looks to follow up last week’s impressive second place at the Titan Invitational on the Cal State Fullerton campus, the last non-championship race of the season this weekend.

The 5k race will begin at 5:00 p.m. today on the Cal State Fullerton campus. This is the first night race this season, as the majority of collegiate races are run in the mornings. Seven USC athletes will run this weekend: Francesca Adamski, Shelby Buckley, Anna Burger, Austin Lundin, Jessica Lundin, Erin Matranga and Kelly Owen. This race, however, will serve mainly as a tune-up before the Pac-12 championships, which are scheduled for Oct. 29 in Tempe, Ariz.

“Our goal is to keep improving and stay healthy during these last few weeks of the season,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “The freshmen have done a great job of pacing themselves through this season.”

Last week’s performance at the Northridge Invitational was a well-deserved boost in the team’s morale, with USC placing second overall and freshman Erica Capellino taking third among the competitors. She was followed by Shelby Buckley in 11th place, Erin Robinson and Kira Soderstrom in 19th and 20th, respectively, Katie DeYoung in 22nd and Jaclyn Walles, Shannon Byrne, and Kelly Owen in 27th, 29th and 33rd. Austin Lundin placed 52nd, while Erin Matranga, Jessica Lundin and Anna Burger came in 58th, 63rd and 87th, respectively.

“I was very pleased that our fifth runner finished the race ahead of everyone else’s fifth runner. Erica Capellino led the way with a strong effort in her first 6k race as a [Woman of Troy],” Walsh said. “I thought Erin Robinson, Kira Soderstrom and Katie DeYoung all pushed hard in the middle of the race, and really battled against the other runners around them. This helped us close the gap between our first and fifth runner, which is very important in a cross country race.”

Last week’s performance at the Northridge Invitational might be a good predictor of the team’s potential at the Pac-12 championships, as both are 6k races. The distance is a problem for many schools, as collegiate cross-country races are typically five kilometers in length. USC’s runners, however, tend to perform well at longer distances.

Walsh said that after careful consideration of last week’s race, as well as overall performance, the seven girls who will run in the Pac-12 championships are Shelby Buckley, Shannon Byrne, Erica Capellino, Katie DeYoung, Erin Robinson, Kira Soderstrom and Jackie Walles. Five of the seven girls selected for the championship race are freshman, but Walsh believes the young team will be an advantage in the long run.

“This is a positive because they will gain the necessary experience to eventually score well in the conference championships,” Walsh said. “I [won’t say anything else] other than that USC will come and run our best race of the season in Tempe.”

]]>USC to compete in invitationalhttp://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/12/usc-to-compete-in-invitational/
Thu, 13 Oct 2011 06:54:41 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=39074The Women of Troy head to Northridge to compete in their first 6-kilometer race.

]]>After two weeks off from racing, the USC cross country team will take on five other schools at this weekend’s Northridge Invitational. This race will be the first time this season the Women of Troy run a 6-kilometer distance.

In addition to meet host Cal State Northridge, USC will compete alongside UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Bakersfield. The course, recently moved from a local park in Northridge, Calif., to the Cal State Northridge campus, is a flat, fast course that will play to many of USC’s strengths. Eleven of the team’s runners will compete this weekend.

“All of the girls have made big improvements in the last four weeks, so it’s hard to single out one person that I expect to run fast,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “My main goal is to win the team title, but we will have to run fast and be aggressive if we want to win that team trophy.”

The few extra weeks of training bode well for USC, particularly in a distance many runners are not accustomed to. The team has been running well during its rigorous training, and Walsh is optimistic about its performance.

“The team dynamic has changed some,” Walsh said. “The freshmen know that they are expected to contribute right now, and the older girls know that I expect them to step up and lead. The good news about the freshmen is that all six girls keep improving each week.”

This meet carries extra significance as well — it will help Walsh select his runners for the Pac-12 championships on Oct. 29, another 6-kilometer race. The pressure of this selection process will affect how the runners race.

“Only two spots [of seven] are secured, and we have 10 people battling for those final five spots,” Walsh said. “The race on Saturday will carry a lot of weight in determining those remaining five spots because the race is 6-kilometer, and also because I want to see who can run fast under pressure.”

]]>USC has strong showing in weekend invitationalhttp://dailytrojan.com/2011/09/18/usc-has-strong-showing-in-weekend-invitational/
Mon, 19 Sep 2011 01:19:55 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=36945The Women of Troy place six of their seven runners in the top-30 of the competition.

]]>The USC women’s cross-country team took the San Diego State Aztec Invitational by storm Saturday, placing third out of nine teams. Running at an invitational known for its rough terrain and hills, the Women of Troy reached an average time of 19:16.36.

Freshman Erica Capellino placed first for USC and second overall, posting an 18:27.8 in her first official collegiate meet. USC coach Tom Walsh waited to debut Capellino until this meet, knowing her strengths would work to the team’s advantage, and was pleased with her performance.

“Capellino was the standout runner,” Walsh said. “I was happy with the way she attacked the hills, and she competed very well for the entire 5,000 meters. It certainly didn’t look like it was Erica’s first race of the season.”

Six freshmen and redshirt junior team captain Jessica Lundin were the seven USC entrants in the race. After last week’s start, Walsh was pleased the runners were able to improve on their performances.

Freshmen Erin Matranga, Erin Robinson and Shannon Byrne finished within two seconds of each other for 18th, 19th and 20th places, respectively.

Freshman Austin Lundin placed 22nd, with a time of 19.33.0, while freshman Kira Soderstrom and Lundin finished back-to-back in 28th and 29th place, with respective times of 19.55.5 and 19.56.8.

“Place was more important than time in this meet as everyone ran slower times than they usually do,” Walsh said. “Erin Matranga ran strong on the hills, [and] ran her best race of the season.”

Because of the hilly terrain, all entrants posted relatively slower times than they would have on a flat course. The team ran a slower race than last week’s at the UC Irvine Invitational, but USC’s performance was more what Walsh expected of the runners.

“The course was challenging and very hilly for everyone,” Walsh said. “The team is improving from week to week, and we are headed in the right direction. We have two weeks to prepare for our next race at Pomona Pitzer, and I am looking forward to these next two weeks of hard training.”

The team’s next race is scheduled for Oct. 1 at the Pomona Pitzer Invitational in Claremont, Calif.

]]>USC to compete in Aztec Invitationalhttp://dailytrojan.com/2011/09/15/usc-to-compete-in-aztec-invitational/
Fri, 16 Sep 2011 04:55:15 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=36825The Women of Troy travel to San Diego to take part in one of the most challenging courses.

]]>The USC women’s cross-country team will begin its second meet of the 2011 season Saturday, as it is scheduled to partake in the 67th annual San Diego State Aztec Invitational, held in Balboa Park.

The course, which runs near the San Diego Zoo, should challenge the Women of Troy.

“This meet will be a great chance for the team to race on a tougher, hillier or rugged course,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “The times will be slower, but they’ll be slower for all teams. I’m trying to teach them not to be so focused on times, but rather on performance.”

With only seven entrants in this weekend’s race, USC hopes to better last week’s performance at the UC Irvine Invitational, where it finished seventh.

Redshirt junior Shelby Buckley, who opened her first season for USC as its top finisher at the invitational, will be counted upon to lead the Women of Troy to another respectable finish. The other six runners are all the freshmen recruits, most of who raced for the first time last weekend.

The Aztec Invitational, however, will also serve as the first official race for freshman Erica Capellino, who is expected to become one of USC’s top runners.

“I’m excited to see how Erica performs,” Walsh said. “She’s been doing so well in training, and hopefully that will carry over. She’s a good hill runner, which is why we wanted her to start out in San Diego instead of last week. Kira Soderstrom will hopefully do really well too; she’s really stepped it up in training.”

The meet might prove difficult for the Women of Troy, as the terrain is notoriously rugged when compared to other 5-kilometer courses. Additionally, Walsh noted concerns about the runners going out too quickly in the early goings, which could eventually count for a loss of speed in the middle of the race. This has been a persistent issue for the Trojans in past meets, Walsh added.

Though last week’s race proved to be a solid start to the season, Walsh hopes this weekend’s invitational will allow the runners to further prove themselves. The UC Irvine Invitational was the first meet as Trojans for eight of USC’s 10 runners, and the first official collegiate race for the team’s five freshmen.

“The first race is always a starting point,” Walsh said. “Runners make mistakes and are more tentative. There’s always a big improvement between the first race and the second. We just need to focus on mental toughness, and not slowing down in the middle.”

The race, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in San Diego, will also have a community division in which local runners can participate.

]]>Despite rain and muddy terrain, the USC women’s cross-country team was off and running Saturday with a seventh-place finish at the UC Irvine Invitational. The five-kilometer race was the first official collegiate meet for eight of USC’s 10 runners.

Junior Shelby Buckley, expected to be one of USC’s top runners this season, finished first among the Women of Troy and 19th overall with a time of 18:17.4. After transferring from UCLA in 2009 and sitting out with an injury last season, Buckley saw the race as a learning experience for future races.

“I would say it was a good starting point for myself,” Buckley said. “I’m happy that I was able to gauge where I am in my training and now I can improve upon that in both practice and races.”

USC coach Tom Walsh was proud of the effort he saw from the team, most of which was racing for the first time in college.

“It was pretty good first race of the season for the USC cross-country team,” Walsh said. “The freshmen were a little nervous, but they got that first race as a Trojan under their belt. I was pleased with how the girls finished the race.”

By selecting an invitational meet in which USC was the only Pac-12 team as the first of the season, Walsh allowed the team’s five newest members to compete. His hopes for the team’s five freshmen were realized, with Erin Robinson finishing in 18:54.3 for 40th place. Shannon Byrne posted a personal record of 18:55.2 to take 43rd, with fellow freshman Kira Soderstrom finishing in 57th. The freshman group was rounded out with Erin Matranga and Austin Lundin finishing in 69th and 78th, respectively.

“The first race in your collegiate career is always nerve-racking, so I think they are relieved that they got that race under their belts,” Buckley said.

USC was missing one of its anticipated stars, freshman Erica Capellino, who will run her first race for the Women of Troy next weekend at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational. Despite her absence, Walsh was pleased with his team’s performance, although he noted there are areas to grow.

“Every one of our runners had a strong kick at the end of the race,” Walsh said. “But we need some improvement on our middle-of-the-race tactics. We were not aggressive enough in the middle.”

The team finished seventh behind Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Azusa Pacific, Long Beach State, Cal State San Marcos, Claremont McKenna and UC San Diego, in a field of sixteen teams.

“I would say this meet was a good starting point, especially for our freshmen,” Buckley said.

]]>After a disappointing 10th-place finish at the Pac-10 championships last season, the USC women’s cross-country team looks to bounce back in 2011.

The UC Irvine Invitational in Irvine, Calif., which begins Saturday, will provide the Women of Troy an early season test, especially after the loss of recent graduates Christine Cortez and Zsofia Erdelyi.

“[Erdelyi] was very special, an All-American, and she holds many records for the university,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “She’s definitely the best distance runner we’ve ever had. And Christine’s determination and discipline rubbed off on everyone else on the team. We’re basically starting from scratch now.”

Buckley, a transfer from UCLA, was forced to sit out the 2010 season but posted excellent times while running unattached in three races last year. Capellino also took fifth place at the Iolani Cross Country Invitational for Palos Verdes High School at the CIF State Championships in 2010 with a time of 18:04.

With the team comprised mostly of walk-ons and new members, the rest of the spots on the team have yet to be decided. USC boasts five other talented walk-on freshmen in addition to Capellino. All but Capellino will race this weekend in Irvine.

Capellino is holding off on her season debut until next week’s race at San Diego State.

“We have six fabulous freshmen this season, and we’re really excited about that group and their prospects for the future,” Walsh said. “They’ve had a good solid summer of training and should be ready for this season’s races. The third to seventh ranked spots are up for grabs. There are so many people with similar stats.”

Much like last year, USC’s hopes for a strong season lie in whether the runners can stay healthy. Several athletes have been battling injuries, which might have impacted their summer training. Senior Leah Gaeta will redshirt this season.

A competitive atmosphere with many underclassmen will allow runners to quickly distinguish themselves, but Walsh knows 2011 will be a building year for USC.

“We’re so young, and sometimes freshmen don’t always run to their best ability right away,” Walsh said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to race as fast as they’re training.”

USC faces steep competition with this year’s Pac-12 lineup, as annual powerhouses Oregon and Stanford boast rosters full of impressive contenders. USC’s lack of cross-country scholarships hinders its ability to actively recruit runners, but this is not an insurmountable challenge, according to Walsh, who remains optimistic about the Women of Troy’s chances of placing higher than last year’s disappointing finish at the Pac-10 championships.

The cross-country season begins in Irvine this weekend and continues through four more California cities before the Pac-12 championships in Tempe, Ariz., on Oct. 29.

]]>At the World University Games in Shenzhen, China, which lasted from Aug. 12-23, Nia Ali, a 2011 USC alumna, was just as impressive, running her way to the gold medal, winning all three of her races with times of 13.08 seconds in the preliminary round, 12.79 seconds in the semifinals and 12.85 seconds in the finals.

In June, Ali, then a senior, won the NCAA Division I women’s 100-meter hurdles, posting a personal record of 12.63 seconds as a member of the USC women’s track and field team.

Along with Ali, former Trojan Eva Orban, placed second in the women’s hammer throw with a personal record of 234-0 (71.33 meters). Orban, a native of Hungary, won the 2008 NCAA hammer title at USC.

Junior Aareon Payne, who was regarded as one of the top sprinters on the west coast as a freshman, participated in the women’s 200-meter dash, advancing to the semifinals. She placed seventh with a time of 23.85 seconds but did not advance to the finals.

In 2011, Payne earned 2011 All-America honors in both the 200-meter dash and as a member of USC’s 4×100-meter relay team.

Last season Hughes was undefeated in the 400-meter until the NCAA championships. He ranks seventh all-time on the USC 400-meter list with a time of 45.15 seconds.

Recent graduate Brendan Ames placed 10th in the 110-meter high hurdle semifinals. He did not, however, advance to the finals. As a 2011 All-American, Ames placed third at the NCAA championships with a personal record of 13.34 seconds.

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2011/08/23/trojans-grab-medals-at-university-games/feed/1Trojans come up short at the NCAAshttp://dailytrojan.com/2011/06/14/trojans-come-up-short-at-the-ncaas/
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:57:20 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=33913The women place sixth at the NCAA track and field championships, while the men place 12th.

]]>Despite high hopes and expectations, the USC track and field team failed to meet its set goals at the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, as the women’s team placed sixth and the men’s team placed 12th in the competition.

Winner · Senior Nia Ali won the 2011 NCAA 100-meter hurdles with a personal record of 12.63 seconds. Ali’s performance gave the Women of Troy 10 points in the team competition, which put USC in sixth place at the track and field championships. - Photo courtesy of Sports Information

The USC women’s team finished with 30 points, after not registering any points at NCAAs last year, and walked away from the week’s events with a sense of accomplishment. Not only did it place in the top 10, but it redeemed itself.

After all, the results of last year’s NCAA competition for the Women of Troy were arguably anomalies. This was the same team that, during coach Ron Allice’s 17-season term at USC so far, had never gone scoreless at the NCAA competition.

This year’s young team, made up mostly of freshmen, came back this year and proved its worth.

“As a whole, we came off so strong,” senior Nia Ali said. “We did it basically with a team of freshman alone. I am just excited for the upcoming years. It was a big step up for freshmen and as a team as a whole.”

For the men’s team, there was a bit less to celebrate. After consistently placing in the top 10 at the NCAA competition for the last six years, the Trojans’ streak was snapped as the team only managed to earn 18 points. Despite the 12th-place finish, the team has managed to score in the top 10 in 13 of Allice’s 17 seasons heading the program.

The team’s 12th place finish was, to Allice, partially because of a lack of focus. Because most of the athletes will be returning for next season, there will be a chance for the team to redeem itself.

The individual performances at the NCAA championship by USC athletes were noteworthy. Personal records were achieved and individual titles won. Eleven different USC athletes earned first team All-America honors during the four days of events.

Hurdler and heptathlete Ali was one athlete in particular who was recognized, winning the 100-meter hurdles title at the competition with a wind-aided personal record of 12.63.

“I don’t even know what I was feeling after [the race],” Ali said. “You never know what to expect in such an unpredictable race.”

Ali also earned sixth place in the high jump.

Senior Brendan Ames performed well in the 100-meter hurdles, earning third place in the final heat. Ames finished just 0.01 seconds behind the second-place finisher with a wind-aided personal record of 13.34.

Top performances on the men’s team included senior Trey Henderson, who earned fourth place in the hammer throw, and junior Cooper Thompson, who placed ninth in javelin.

Junior Aareon Payne and freshman Jessica Davis also placed in the 200-meter, finishing in fifth and eighth place, respectively.

“I felt everyone equally contributed,” Ali said. “We had [personal records] everywhere. It wasn’t just one specific area, but obviously the sprinters and throwers played a big role.”

These are two very important years to the USC track and field team. They mark the years when the men’s and women’s teams, respectively, last won an NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

Cremé of the crop · Junior captain Joey Hughes (far right) has developed into one of the top 400m runners in the country, and his time of 45.15 sec ranks seventh all-time in USC history. This week, he will be competing in the 400m race and the 4x400m race. - Summer Trojan file photo

Entering this year’s competition, the men’s team ranks No. 6 in the nation and the women’s team comes in at No. 7.

Both teams are primed to make some noise at the NCAAs as USC will look to use its 19 qualifying athletes to conquer 15 different events throughout the course of the competition.

With the events taking place at historic Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, the team hopes for the best in continuing its legacy.

Yes, a legacy.

Even though it has been quite some time since the USC men’s and women’s teams, took home the national title, that doesn’t mean the Trojans haven’t seen overall success.

The men’s team has won the most NCAA outdoor titles — 26 in total — which is more than double the next-best program in Arkansas.

As for the women’s team, its only title was in 2001. Regardless, USC as a whole has constantly appeared in the top-10 at the NCAA championships.

Junior captain Joey Hughes expressed his optimism, especially in terms of the men’s team, for this year’s competition.

“I have confidence in our team,” Hughes said. “I feel like we will do excellent. We have a strong group of guys and we will do good overall for the men’s side.”

One of the fastest 400-meter runners in the country, Hughes will be a big asset to the team at the NCAA championships. He will also participate in the 4×400-meter relay with junior Duane Walker, sophomore Reggie Wyatt and freshman Josh Mance — one of the fastest relay teams in the country.

The young USC team, which heads to Des Moines with only four seniors, has done a few things to prepare for competition.

“One thing that we did versus the other teams is that we got here a few days earlier,” Hughes said. “We will be used to the time zone, we won’t feel like we just flew in and feel uncomfortable. And we had lighter practices before this so we wouldn’t be tired.”

Even though they are scarce in number, two of four USC’s seniors will be a force to reckon with.

Seniors Oscar Spurlock and Brendan Ames are ranked third and fourth in the nation, respectively, in the 110-meter hurdles.

As for the team’s biggest strength, the junior captain named three key areas, in addition to hurdles, where the Trojans excel.

“Our strength is in the hurdles, 400 and the throws,” Hughes said. “We have two strong hurdlers, runners and throwers who qualified.”

The competition begins today with the women’s 4×100-meter relay at 5:30 p.m. and runs through Saturday.

]]>Following its recent success at the Claremont Relays this past weekend, the USC track and field team is competing in the Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. this weekend with the intention of continuing to improve.

According to director Ron Allice, the team is still in the evaluation and training stage of the season.

Allice also spoke about how the team is constantly looking to improve towards a peak at the important meets of the season. In the early parts of the season, athletes use the meets as a chance to qualify for later, more important meets where winning is more important.

“This meet is part of the evaluation process on behalf of the coaching staff to see the results of our preparation,” Allice said. “It’s a way for the athletes to hopefully progress and see all of our hard work, that started in September, start to pay off.“

The track and field season is different from most athletic seasons in that the coaches must bring the athletes to a physical peak at the end of the season, where results really count.

“With track and field, nobody can help you but yourself,” Allice said. “You prepare your body to perform, and if you rush it or try to take shortcuts, ultimately your potential is stagnated or interrupted. We try to bring people around where it really counts.”

USC will be sending all of its athletes besides the male sprinters, although many will be competing in events that are not their specialization in order to train and prepare.

So far, the team has looked prepared. At the Claremont Relays last weekend, USC looked strong, with thirteen individual top five finishes as well as several relay wins, despite battling sub-40 degree weather and hail.

Freshman Laura Blackburn was the winner in the 100-meter high hurdles, finishing .75 seconds ahead of second place with a time of 13.81 seconds. Sophomore Thea Weiss won the women’s pole vault with a jump of 10-6.00ft, and Taylor Slingsby won the men’s with a jumb of 15-5.50ft. Sophomore Tyler Ruiz and freshman Viktor Fajoyomi won the high jump with jumps of 6-8.00 and 6-6.00 respectively.

“Everybody from the sprinters all the way up through the middle distance group looked pretty good for where we are at this point in time,” Allice said. “The staff was generally pleased with what we saw. With weather like that, you just want to make sure you get out of there healthy.”

The Ben Brown Invitational will take place Saturday and Sunday in Fullerton, Calif.

]]>Cross country finishes in 10th place to end seasonhttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/10/31/cross-country-finishes-in-10th-place-to-end-season/
Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:31:16 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=21814USC rounds out a promising year with a top-10 finish at the Pac-10 championships.

]]>It wasn’t the end to the season that USC coach Tom Walsh envisioned, but the season itself is another story.

The USC women’s cross-country team placed 10th at Saturday’s Pac-10 championships in Seattle, Wash., bringing a slightly disappointing end to an otherwise solid year for the Women of Troy.

“This year was great because of the progress we made,” Walsh said. “Obviously it doesn’t show up on the Pac-10 score sheet, but the strides we made this fall were very encouraging.”

Senior Zsofia Erdelyi is one of the major reasons for those strides and was a bright spot for USC on Saturday. Erdelyi was the highest finisher for the Women of Troy, coming in 14th overall, a career best at the Pac-10 championships. The senior standout finished with a time of 20:30.27, placing three spots higher than she did as a sophomore.

“I felt like Zsofia almost ran a complete race,” Walsh said. “She had a bit of a bad stretch in the middle, but she bounced back nicely. She always seems to finish strong.”

Erdelyi’s season will continue as she travels to the NCAA West Regional meet in Eugene, Ore., on Nov. 13. There, she will try to race well enough to earn a trip to the NCAA championships in Terra Haute, Ind.

“Zsofia always seems to run better at regionals,” Walsh said. “So I’m excited to see what she can do there.”

The rest of Saturday’s race, however, was a slight disappointment for the Women of Troy. Although USC only finished 12 points out of eighth place, several runners could not duplicate their personal record performances from earlier in the year, and USC fell to last.

“This was a learning experience for these girls,” Walsh said. “Everyone was improving all year, but this was a different race on a totally different level. We have to get better at stepping up on the big stage.”

Senior Christine Cortez finished second for USC but was 41 places back of Erdelyi at 55th overall. Fellow senior Dina Kitayama finished 68th overall and third for the Women of Troy. Both runners finished just off their personal best times.

Junior Leah Gaeta was fourth for USC and 82nd overall, and sophomore Kelly Owen finished right behind her at 83rd overall. Senior Zara Lukens and redshirt sophomore Jessica Lundin rounded out the group for USC, finishing 84th and 88th overall.

“I was happy with our front three runners,” Walsh said. “And everyone else battled too. It just didn’t work out the way we would have liked.”

USC had the unenviable task of trying to make a dent in the nation’s toughest cross-country conference. Annual stalwarts Oregon and Stanford accounted for four of the race’s top five runners, with Stanford taking the title over second-place Arizona.

]]>USC travels north for Pac-10 championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/10/28/usc-travels-north-for-pac-10-championships/
http://dailytrojan.com/2010/10/28/usc-travels-north-for-pac-10-championships/#commentsFri, 29 Oct 2010 06:10:27 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=21650Senior Zsofia Erdelyi will lead the women’s cross-country team in its biggest test so far.

]]>The USC women’s cross-country team knows that it’s in for a challenge at this weekend’s Pac-10 Cross Country Championships, but according to USC coach Tom Walsh, if there’s any team ready for a challenge, it’s his.

Front lines · Senior Zsofia Erdelyi and the Women of Troy will be pushed by tough competition this weekend at the Pac-10 championships. - Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

The Women of Troy will need to be ready when they travel to Seattle, Wash., to take on some of the best teams in the country. Walsh knows the powerhouses like Oregon, Stanford and Washington that await his squad will be tough to beat, but he still has confidence that USC will impress anyone who counts it out.

“Yes, we’re battling for that middle of the pack,” Walsh said. “But this team has a reputation for coming on strong at the end of races. If everyone runs their best race, we’ll be fine.”

USC will use its seven best runners to try and make a significant dent in the Pac-10 placing. Senior Zsofia Erdelyi, who won the Cal State Northridge meet individual title earlier this month, will likely battle with some of the best runners on the West Coast for another first-place title in Seattle.

“Zsofia runs best when she’s at the front,” Walsh said. “I like her staying with the lead pack and then surging at the end. She should be right up there with the best.”

The rest of USC’s squad is made up of both youth and experience. Joining Erdelyi are seniors Christine Cortez, Dina Kitayama and Zara Lukens. Juniors Leah Gaeta and Jessica Lundin and sophomore Kelly Owen round out USC’s top seven. Walsh indicated that his seniors have to step up for the Women of Troy to exceed expectations.

“I’m looking for Christine Cortez and the other seniors to have another breakthrough,” Walsh said. “They’ve been doing it all year.”

Walsh also believes that the race, which will be run at what he called a “flat and fast” Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle, could teeter on who gets out to a strong start.

“We absolutely have to be aggressive,” Walsh said. “Everyone gets out so fast at Pac-10s. If you don’t get out fast, you’re in trouble.”

Before the gun even goes off, however, Walsh said USC already has a couple advantages.

“There’s rain in the forecast and we have several runners who hail from bad-weather areas,” Walsh said. “I feel like that will help.”

The other advantage, however, is much more important.

“We finally have momentum,” Walsh said. “It’s something we haven’t had the past few years. We’ve had a great year and I’m looking forward to seeing how we stack up against the best.”

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2010/10/28/usc-travels-north-for-pac-10-championships/feed/1Cross country team takes sixth at Titan Invitationalhttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/10/25/cross-country-team-takes-sixth-at-titan-invitational/
Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:31:10 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=21191Sophomore Kelly Owen led a young USC women’s cross country squad to a sixth-place finish at Friday’s Titan Invitational at Cal State Fullerton.

]]>Sophomore Kelly Owen led a young USC women’s cross country squad to a sixth-place finish at Friday’s Titan Invitational at Cal State Fullerton.

Running without many of its top competitors, USC instead sent mostly freshmen and sophomores to the 5K race in Fullerton, Calif. in order to help them gain some race experience late in the season.

Owen set a 5K personal best with a time of 18:27.7, good enough for 19th place overall and 12th among scoring runners. The personal record was the second straight for Owen, who also ran a career best 6K last week at Cal State Northridge. Owen’s performance all but solidified her spot on the squad that USC will send to the Pac-10 Championships next week.

The rest of the Women of Troy’s scoring team from Friday consisted of mostly unfamiliar names. Redshirt sophomore Anniya Louis finished second for USC at 22nd overall. Louis, who has struggled with injuries since arriving in 2008, set a 5K personal best time in what was her first official race at USC.

Freshman Jaclyn Walles continued the trend of personal records with a time of 18:31, finishing right behind Louis at 23rd overall.

Allison Rojewski, the lone senior on Friday’s squad, finished 51st overall, followed by USC’s final official runner, freshman Francesca Adamski, who placed 65th.

Next up for the Women of Troy are the Pac-10 Championships in Seattle on Oct. 30. Expected to compete for USC are seniors Zsofia Erdelyi, Christine Cortez, Dina Kitayama and Zara Luken, junior Leah Gaeta, redshirt sophomore Jessica Lundin, and Owen.

]]>The USC women’s cross-country team went to Saturday’s UC Irvine Invitational looking for a great start, and instead got a great finish.

Pacer · Senior Christine Cortez led USC at the 5K UC Irvine Invitational Saturday, finishing in 22nd place out of 122 with a final time of 18:26.6. - Courtesy of USC Sports Information

Despite a sluggish beginning, the Women of Troy took sixth overall at the UC Irvine 5K meet thanks to a solid last half of the race.

“At the beginning of the season everyone makes mistakes,” coach Tom Walsh said. “And our mistake was being too tentative at [the start of the race]. We got out really slow, but I don’t think any other team finished as strong as we did. Our girls had more left than anybody.”

Senior Christine Cortez led the charge for USC, which ran without three of its top runners, and placed 22nd overall in a field of 122. Junior Leah Gaeta was next for the Women of Troy at 33rd overall, followed by senior Dina Kitayama at 38th.

Senior Zara Lukens and redshirt sophomore Jessica Lundin crossed the line 43rd and 45th, respectively. Freshman Jaclyn Walles and sophomore Kelly Owen went in back-to-back at 57th and 58th.

“Basically, everyone ran pretty close to what I thought they’d run,” Walsh said. “It was very consistent with how they’ve been practicing. I’d call it a pretty good effort.”

USC finished behind Cal Poly San Luis Opisbo, Azusa Pacific, Cal State San Marcos, UC Irvine and Pepperdine. USC’s squad, however, was missing senior Zsofia Erdelyi, redshirt sophomore Shelby Buckley and sophomore Kathleen Moloney, all expected to be top contributors once the season heats up. Despite the absences, Walsh still liked what he saw Saturday.

“Some girls need a few races to build into the season,” he said. “It was a good first race for them. They’re all just going to keep getting better and better.”

When asked for the most important thing he noticed at UC Irvine, Walsh returned to the team’s less-than-stellar start and strong finish, noting that things might have been different had the race been a longer distance.

“I think we’re ready for the 6K races,” Walsh said. “I’m actually a little disappointed that this wasn’t a 6K because I think our girls were as prepared to go a little longer as anyone else out there. But we’re going to have to work on the start because that didn’t help us at all.”

USC will have two weeks to improve its race tactics before a marquee meet at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 25. The Women of Troy expect to run at full strength at the race Walsh calls “one of the most important of the season.”

]]>The USC women’s cross-country team experienced an up-and-down season in 2009, and coach Tom Walsh is hoping better luck and a group of new contributors will improve the Women of Troy’s performance on the course.

Born to run · Senior Zsofia Erdelyi looks to rebound from injury and an underwhelming 2009 season to lead the Women of Troy in 2010. - Brandon Hui | Daily Trojan

“I think we can take a step forward,” Walsh said. “This is a competitive group and they are all looking forward to the 2010 season to try and improve.”

That improvement likely hinges on whether USC can stay healthy. Injuries and illness prevented the Women of Troy from running at full strength until the end of the 2009 season and contributed to some disappointing performances at important meets. At the 2009 Pac-10 championships, USC could only muster a ninth-place finish.

Most of the runners affected by these setbacks, however, will get a second chance. USC will return several key pieces from its 2009 squad, none more important than senior Zsofia Erdelyi, USC’s highest-place finisher at the NCAA West Regionals race last year.

Erdelyi, who qualified for the NCAA championships in 2008, failed to do so last year after running a slower time in the regional meet than the Pac-10 meet. Erdelyi’s inconsistent 2009 season paralleled her team’s struggles, but Walsh believes the problems are a thing of the past.

“Zsofia’s season [in 2009] was a fluke,” Walsh said. “She got off to a bit of a slow start because of injuries and in cross-country that can hurt you. The season is so short that if you don’t get on track early, you end up playing catch up.”

Among the rest of the returning ranks are sophomore Kathleen Moloney, who had what Walsh called “an outstanding freshman season,” and senior Christine Cortez, who arrived last year as a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., and emerged as one of USC’s strongest runners.

Despite the solid group of returners, it’s the newcomers that provide the most reason for excitement. Redshirt sophomore Shelby Buckley, who was forced to sit out last season because of her intra-conference transfer from UCLA, is expected to make an immediate contribution.

“We’re really excited about Shelby,” Walsh said. “She’s got great credentials. We can’t wait to see what she can do for us.”

Walsh also anticipates incoming freshmen Jaclyn Walles and Katie DeYoung to make an impact. Walles won the Los Angeles City Championship for Venice High School in her junior year, and DeYoung is a formidable long-distance runner from Serra Catholic in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

USC still faces an uphill climb, however. In terms of overall dominance, the Pac-10 might be the best conference in all of collegiate women’s cross-country. Powerhouses like Oregon, Stanford and Washington annually field national championship contenders, and the rest of the conference produces tough competition year after year.

Despite a strong field of opponents, Walsh and his team aren’t backing down. The coach put together what he calls a “challenging, but not overwhelming” schedule that begins Sept. 11 at the UC Irvine Invitational and includes a trip back to the Stanford Invitational the following week. It’s Stanford that Walsh has circled on his calendar as a marquee meet.

“I’m really looking forward to it because we did so poorly there last year,” Walsh said. “We need to make up for that. It’s a very important meet for us.”

USC will also travel to Cal State Northridge and the Titan Invitational in Fullerton, Calif., before competing in the Pac-10 championships on Oct. 30.

]]>USC men’s track finishes fifth, women don’t place at NCAA’shttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/06/15/usc-men%e2%80%99s-track-finishes-fifth-women-don%e2%80%99t-place-at-ncaa%e2%80%99s/
Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:34:25 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=14764Women finish unranked for the first since in 29 years at NCAA championships in Oregon.

]]>While rain and winds may have been staples at the 2010 NCAA track & field Championships, these disruptive elements were not enough to keep the Trojans from their best finish since 2007.

The USC men’s team placed fifth after four days of competition in Eugene, Ore. This result signified the team’s sixth consecutive top ten finish.

“Based upon the weather and how we performed, I thought we maximized what our potential was,” said Ron Allice, director of USC track & field.

Even though Allice may have been satisfied with the performance, his high expectations for the team signify his resistance to merely settle for the men’s consistent championship success.

“My goal was to have us in the top five in the country, and that’s where we finished,” said Allice. “Was I happy with the top five? To some extent. The idea is, we wanted to be better than that.”

Dieuwertje Kast | Daily Trojan

While the team may have hoped to finish even higher in the standings, many Trojans had performances that warrant recognition. One player, whom Allice recalled as having “one heck of a meet,” was sophomore Joey Hughes.

Hughes placed in both individual and team events. Not only did he help the men finish fifth in the 4 x 400 relay after running the third leg of the race, he also placed third in the 400-meter dash. He recorded a time of 45.23 seconds, just .02 seconds behind the runner-up.

Hughes became a two-time All-American as a result of his performance at the championships.

Other Trojans who were granted All-American status include redshirt senior Manjula Wijesekara, who finished second in the high jump; junior Oscar Spurlock, who placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles; and redshirt senior Aaron Dan, who took the fifth place spot in the discus final.

One unfortunate moment for the men’s team came in the 100-meter dash. Senior Ahmad Rashad was disqualified after he was called for a false start in his semifinal heat. Rashad placed second in the race at last year’s championships and was considered the likely favorite at this year’s event. At the conclusion of the meet, the men’s team had earned 35.5 points, just 1.5 fewer points than the fourth-place Arizona State Sun Devils and 19.5 points fewer than the first-place Texas A&M Aggies.

But the Women of Troy were unable to earn any team points throughout the competition and, thus, finished unranked, a disappointing result that hadn’t occurred since the 1981 season.

“We had just, really a lot of letdowns where I felt we did not perform anywhere close to what we were capable of,” Allice said of the women’s team.

With the season over and many players graduating and moving on, the Trojans now face the task of rebuilding and strengthening, with the hope of more success in the upcoming year.

“The recruiting class that we’re bringing in has got to step in and fill the void,” Allice said.

]]>The USC track and field team had a solid showing at the conference championships, winning six titles on the last day of competition.

The men entered Sunday’s events in fourth place and had 40 points, while the women sat in seventh and had 17 points.

“I thought our men did just about everything they could possibly do in terms of maximizing our potential,” said Ron Allice, director of the USC track and field team.

The men finished with 156 points, 64 points ahead of the third-place Stanford Cardinal. That was the most points any team had ever earned at the conference championships without winning first place, according to Allice.

Many Trojans won individual titles throughout the weekend. Senior Ahmad Rashad earned himself two after finishing first in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. This was the third time he won the two races, after winning both during his freshman and junior seasons.

“The reason he didn’t do it his sophomore year was he was injured,” Allice said of Rashad. “Outside of that, he has dominated his conference throughout his entire career.”

Rashad became the first Pac-10 male athlete to win both of these races three times. In fact, nobody had won either race three times, let alone both.

Senior Manjula Wijesekara, senior Aven Wright and sophomore Joey Hughes also won individual titles in the high jump, triple jump and 400-meter dash, respectively. With a time of 45.16, Hughes now holds the seventh-best time in USC history. This win capped off what was a very busy weekend for him.

“To run two [4×100] relays, a [4×400] relay, two 200-[meter dashes] and two 400-[meter dashes] in two days is a Herculean effort,” said Allice.

Some of the highlights for the women included when freshman Lauren Chambers took second place in the hammer competition and redshirt sophomore Lauren Guerrieri finished second in the women’s discus.

One unfortunate moment for the women occurred during the 4×400 relay. The team consisted of seniors Elizabeth Olear, Myra Hasson and Shalina Clark, as well as sophomore Dalilah Muhammad.

The team finished third in the relay but was later disqualified because Hasson was not present for her race on Saturday. While this was because of a clerical error, the disqualification nonetheless cost the women six points. They finished the weekend only half a point behind the third place Arizona Sun Devils.

While the infraction kept her from medaling in the relay final, Muhammad did earn second place in the women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles for the second straight year, earning eight points for her team.

Now that the conference championships are over, the Trojans can look ahead to NCAA regionals at the end of the month, followed by the NCAA championships in June. But Allice stresses that success last weekend does not guarantee victories in upcoming tournaments.

“You can be the best in America and not get through it,” Allice said. “You gotta line up and be ready on that day, and if you’re not ready on that day, you won’t be moving on.”

]]>For members of the USC track and field team, the meet the Trojans have been waiting for all season has finally arrived.

The Trojans will face off against UCLA on Saturday at Drake Stadium in Westwood, Calif., in the 77th annual dual meet, with the USC men’s team leading the series 41-35, while the women’s team is at a 5-21 deficit.

The two teams will go head-to-head for the first time since USC swept the dual meet last year at the Katherine B. Loker Stadium.

In last year’s edition of the dual meet, the Trojans topped the Bruins in both the women’s and men’s events.

“Our expectation coming into the season is to win the dual meet,” USC coach Ron Allice said at the outset of the outdoor season. “Everything we do is building up to that meet.”

Last season, the dual meet between USC and UCLA turned out to be the deciding factor in the Gauntlet Trophy, the annual all-sport competition between USC and UCLA. Several Trojans will try to build on strong performances at last year’s dual meet, while others attempt to rebound from tough appearances. Senior Ahmad Rashad will look to make up for his false start and disqualification in last year’s 100-meter dash.

Senior Nate Anderson and sophomores Duane Walker and Joey Hughes will return to the dual meet after helping clinch last year’s contest as members of the men’s 4×400-meter relay team.

For the USC women, junior Zsofia Erdelyi will try and duplicate her terrific performance from 2009, where she won the women’s 5,000-meter and 1,500-meter runs.

USC is also hoping for strong races from season-long stalwarts like senior hurdler Shalina Clarke and senior sprinter Elizabeth Olear, both of whom have posted times in their respective events that rank among the best in the nation.

For USC, the meet will be a chance to prove its strength before heading into what Allice termed “championship time.”

Following the dual meet, the Trojans will compete in the Pac-10 championships and the NCAA championships to close out the 2010 track season.

]]>Split between two events this weekend, the USC track and field team still managed to capture 11 combined titles at the Tiny Lister and UC San Diego invitationals.

Leader of the pack · Junior distance runner David Branch captured one of the Trojans’ 11 titles last weekend when he ran his season-best time of 3:57.06 in the 1,500-meter event at the Tiny Lister Invitational. - Gary Fung | Daily Trojan

Minderler’s winning throw of 193 feet, one inch was good enough to move her into eighth place on the all-time hammer throw list at USC.

Henderson’s throw of 216 feet, eight inches edged out Guatemala’s Raul Rivera’s toss by more than five feet to capture the title in San Diego.

Senior Ekene Anene captured two jumping titles at Tiny Lister, clearing a career best of five feet, five inches in the high jump and a season-best 40-foot leap in the triple jump.

Showing more overall strength, senior Brandon Estrada also took the Tiny Lister title in pole vault with a height of 17 feet, 6.5 inches.

The track events were equally successful for USC, as senior Myra Hasson took first in the 400-meter sprint at 55.10 seconds and freshman Alexis Brown placing 12th with her season-best time of 59.23.

Among the winners on the men’s side of the track were senior Jason Price’s season-best 47.79 winning time in the 400-meter and junior David Branch’s season-best time of 3:57.06 in the 1,500-meter.

Junior Brendan Ames continued his strong hurdling season with another victory at Tiny Lister, running a 13.91 in the 110-meter hurdles. Freshman Reggie Wyatt won the 400-meter hurdles in 51.58, despite running more than a second slower than his 400-meter sprint last week, which was his season-best effort.

Redshirt sophomore Amechi Egbe was able to set a season best at the Tiny Lister, running the 100-meter dash in a wind-aided 10.67.

The Trojans will next take part in their all-important USC-UCLA dual meet on May 1 before Pac-10 conference events begin the following week.

Last season, the Trojans topped the Bruins in convincing fashion at their dual meet, sweeping UCLA. The sweep was the first time USC beat both UCLA’s men’s and women’s squads since the women began competing in 1984.

The victory in last year’s edition also clinched the Gauntlet Trophy — the all-sport competition between UCLA and USC — for the Trojans.

]]>With only a week to go before the USC-UCLA dual meet, a select group of the Trojan track and field team will split up this weekend at two Southern California meets.

USC will send the majority of its competing athletes to both the Tiny Lister Invitational at Cal State Los Angeles and the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego in preparation for the championship stretch of their season.

While some of USC’s best competitors will rest this weekend, there is still a strong contingent of Trojans lacing up the spikes.

Juniors Oscar Spurlock and Brendan Ames will run the 110-meter hurdles at Tiny Lister, and freshman Reggie Wyatt and sophomore Duane Walker will run the 400-meter hurdle race.

Ames is coming off a career-best run at the Mt. Sac Relays last weekend, where he ran a 13.80 in the 110-meter hurdles.

Wyatt is also fresh from a career best at Mt. Sac, where he ran a 50.45 in the 400-meter dash.

For the USC women, senior Elizabeth Olear will run the 200-meter dash, the race in which she had a season-best time at last week’s Mt. Sac Relays.

The women will also send their regular 4×100-meter relay team to Cal State Los Angeles.

USC will only send four throwers to the Triton Invitational. Seniors Aaron Dan and Col Campbell will compete in the discus, junior Trey Henderson will compete in the hammer throw and sophomore Alex Adams will participate in both the shot put and the discus for the Trojans.

]]>The USC track and field team performed well in a field containing some of the world’s best athletes at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, coming away with several first place finishes and strong showings.

“There were a lot of good performances out there,” USC coach Ron Allice said. “I thought we had a pretty solid weekend.”

Senior sprinter Ahmad Rashad highlighted those performances by winning the men’s 100-meter dash with a wind-aided time of 10.08 seconds. Rashad’s sprint is the second-best collegiate time all season, and his first place finish was even more impressive considering he ran in the same heat as 2008 Olympic sprinter Rodney Martin.

Sophomore sprinter Joey Hughes added to USC’s first place finishes at Mt. Sac, winning the men’s 400-meter dash with a time of 45.37.

In addition to being the fastest time at the Invitational, the time placed Hughes fifth in the world, second in the country and eighth on the Trojans’ all-time list in the event.

The USC hurdlers also made their presence felt. Junior Brendan Ames finished first in the men’s 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 13.80, a new personal best. Freshman Reggie Wyatt also ran his best time of the season in the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles, a 50.45 that was good enough for a second place finish behind two-time NCAA champion Jeshua Anderson of Washington State.

Hughes and Wyatt, along with redshirt sophomore Bryshon Nellum and senior Nate Anderson ,made up the men’s 4×400-meter relay team, which closed the Mt. Sac Invitational with a winning time of 3:03.70.

“All four of those guys ran great legs,” Allice said. “It was really the ultimate team effort.”

For the USC women, senior Elizabeth Olear won the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.95, a second better than her previous personal record. Senior hurdler Shalina Clarke also had a solid day, placing third with a time of 13.38 in the women’s 100-meter high hurdles.

Next up for USC is the Triton Invitational on April 23, hosted by UC San Diego, and the USC-UCLA dual meet the following week. Allice said the meet helped prepare USC for the rest of the season.

“Now we start evaluating where we stand as far as the dual meet and within the conference,” Allice said. “We now have a much clearer picture than we did before. From here on in, it’s championship time.”

]]>USC takes on some of the world’s besthttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/04/14/usc-takes-on-some-of-the-world%e2%80%99s-best/
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:06:48 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=13054The level of competition at the Mt. Sac Relays will be among the toughest USC has seen.

]]>The website for the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, more commonly known as the Mt. Sac Relays, proclaims the meet to be “where the world’s best athletes compete!”

Jumps · Junior hurdler Brendan Ames shares USC’s best time in the 110-meter hurdler with junior Oscar Spurlock at 13.81 seconds. Ames and Spurlock will be tested this weekend against some of the nation’s best. - Gary Fung | Daily Trojan

The USC track and field team will need to be at its best from April 15 to 17 in Walnut, Calif., if it wants to justify its current No. 7 ranking and have a strong showing against those athletes.

“This meet will give us a much better idea of where we stand, especially within the conference,” USC coach Ron Allice said. “The competition was very stiff just to qualify [for the Mt. Sac Relays]. Not everyone that we wanted to get in got in.”

For the athletes who qualified, the meet will give them the opportunity to both improve their qualifying times for the championship season and improve against some of the stiffest competition the Trojans have faced all year.

“Generally speaking, we’re going to put people in their best event,” Allice said. “We’re trying to give people the best chances to post their best time for later this year.”

The Mt. Sac website isn’t being hyperbolic when it uses the phrase “world’s best athletes.” With U.S. collegiate powerhouses like Stanford, Baylor and Washington, USC will run, throw and hurdle against athletes from Bermuda, Great Britain, Canada, Finland and a myriad of other nations eager to show what they can do on the American stage.

“You wouldn’t be at USC if you didn’t think you could compete at that level with athletes from around the globe,” Allice said. “That’s what we try to do. We try to put our athletes in a position where they can compete against the best, no matter where they’re from.”

USC currently has 57 men and women scheduled to compete at Mt. Sac, including some of its most impressive athletes.

Senior Ahmad Rashad, generally considered to be USC’s best short-distance runner, will run both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash after a couple weeks without competition.

Junior hurdlers Oscar Spurlock and Brendan Ames, who both have best times of 13.81 in the men’s 110-meter high hurdles, ranked ninth in the nation, will both compete in the event this weekend.

Sophomore Dalilah Muhammad, who last weekend won the women’s high jump at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, will return to the 400-meter hurdles for the USC women, the event in which she set the nation’s fastest time this year at the Trojan Invitational back in March.

Junior Zsofia Erdelyi, originally from Godollo, Hungary, will compete in the women’s 5,000-meter run at a meet in which her home country is represented in the women’s hammer throw.

Once all the results are in, Allice said the next objective is to use the times to determine strategy for the USC-UCLA dual meet on May 1.

“Our performances will determine how we line [the dual meet] up,” Allice said. “It’s key that we do well this weekend for the sake of the rest of the year.”

]]>USC captures titles across the track at Pomona-Pitzerhttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/04/11/usc-captures-titles-across-the-track-at-pomona-pitzer/
Mon, 12 Apr 2010 01:41:02 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=12752Victories in discus, high jump and relay are among the Trojans’ strong performances.

USC also posted collegiate-best marks in seven events at the meet in Claremont, Calif.

Especially impressive was the performance of USC’s field athletes. Senior Colin Campbell won the men’s discus competition, and redshirt sophomore Lauren Guerrieri won the same event for the women.

Sophomore Dalilah Muhammad, usually one of USC’s best hurdlers, competed in Saturday’s high jump competition and came away with first place, clearing a season-best 5-8 3/4 inches.

Despite the late scratch of sophomore Duane Walker in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, the USC track athletes also had a memorable day at Pomona-Pitzer. Junior Brendan Ames honored his No. 1 seed in the men’s 110-meter hurdles by winning with a final time of 13.81 with a 2.1 meters per second backwind. The time was Ames’ best of the 2010 season.

A pieced-together 4×100-meter relay team took home the gold for the Trojans, as the team of junior Sean Jackson, sophomores Scott DeYoung and Tony Burnett, and freshman Farzad Bozorgzad finished with a time of 41.72.

Several Trojans fell just short of finishing first overall in their respective events. Junior Christine Cortez had a strong showing for the women’s distance team, coming in second overall in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.91, which was still good enough for the best collegiate time in the race.

For the men, senior Jason Price also finished second overall but first collegiately in the 400-meter dash with a season-best 48.16.

Next up for the Trojans are the Mount Sac Relays, a competition-heavy meet in Walnut, Calif., that earlier this week USC coach Ron Allice said was “one of the higher-profile meets on [the Trojans’] schedule.”

]]>After a solid performance at last weekend’s Texas Relays, the USC track and field team will send a limited contingent of runners to the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational this Saturday in Claremont, Calif.

“We will have quite a few athletes competing,” USC coach Ron Allice said. “But it all really depends on who we think needs to race and who needs to rest.”

The athletes not attending the Pomona-Pitzer meet will train through the week and get ready for next weekend’s Mount SAC Relays, one of the more high-profile meets on the Trojans’ schedule. Allice declined to say if he would hold some of his stronger runners back from competing in order to rest for next weekend.

“I really don’t like to say [who will be competing] because I do have some of my first-liners competing there,” Allice said. “I’d rather not categorize. For me to draw a line in the sand for a difference between this athlete and that athlete, that could be misconstrued.”

The entries posted on the Pomona-Pitzer athletic website appear to suggest a compromise between resting USC’s top competitors and maintaining a strong team that should have a good showing on Saturday. While standouts like senior men’s sprinter Ahmad Rashad, junior men’s hurdler Oscar Spurlock and junior women’s distance runner Zsofia Erdelyi are notably absent, USC does possess the No. 1 seeds in both the men’s 110- and 400-meter hurdles in junior Brendan Ames and sophomore Duane Walker, respectively.

“I’m trying to elevate some people from one category to another,” Allice said of the athletes he is sending to Claremont. “These are people I think can get a better qualifying standard and have better standing in more important meets down the road.”

Even with all the shuffling around, Allice says the team remains united and focused on both this weekend and the more important meets that lie ahead.

“We’re doing what we need to do to continue to have this team develop to where we would like it to be during the championship part of the season,” Allice said. “That’s the focus and will remain the focus.”

]]>Three-day Texas Relays will put USC to the testhttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/03/31/three-day-texas-relays-will-put-usc-to-the-test/
http://dailytrojan.com/2010/03/31/three-day-texas-relays-will-put-usc-to-the-test/#commentsThu, 01 Apr 2010 06:07:36 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=11973USC coach Ron Allice knows that even his team’s best might not be good enough in Texas.

That’s because the Trojans will face what USC head coach Ron Allice calls “the best competition in the country” at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, from April 1 through April 3. The meet comes a week after the team rested most of its best athletes in lieu of the Stanford Invitational.

Over and out · Women of Troy senior hurdler Shalina Clarke currently holds the fastest 100-meter hurdle time in the nation at 13.41 seconds. - Tim Tran | Daily Trojan

“This will be our biggest test of the season,” Allice said. “It will be a very intense, very competitive meet.”

When asked what kind of performance he expected from his team considering the quality of the competition, Allice simply said, “We’ll see.”

Allice has reason to be cautious with his prognosticating. The Texas Relays feature some of the top track programs in the country, including Florida State, Oklahoma, Baylor and the host Longhorns.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Allice said. “These are some of the best athletes in the nation.”

He noted that he is not sure the athletes that will compete for USC this week will be the ones he will choose to race at some of the later, more crucial meets of the season.

“Our sprint relays are kind of a makeshift deal right now because we don’t necessarily have the four people that will be on [the final team] yet,” Allice said. “For example, we’ll put out a good 4×400-meter team at the relays that won’t necessarily be the best team we put on the track later on.”

He said the health and energy of his athletes is what spurred him to hold back his best combinations until later in the season.

“You just have to make decisions as you go through the season to keep people from getting injured,” Allice said. “But you still want to stay in a competitive mode, especially in Texas, because we’ll have all we can handle. If we survive Texas with some of the combinations we have, that will be a very good thing. But we could have some setbacks too, so we’ll see.”

Allice said he would hold some of USC’s more “dinged up” competitors out of the Texas Relays to keep them fresh and instead send them to the Cal State San Marcos Mangrum Invitational in San Diego. Among those staying in California are senior men’s triple jumper Aven Wright and sophomore men’s hurdler and sprinter Duane Walker.

“We can’t take chances,” Allice said. “The UCLA Dual Meet is the first day of May, and we want to be prepared.”

USC should still have a very strong showing in some of the individual events in Texas. Freshman standout Reggie Wyatt will run in the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

Junior Brendan Ames will compete in the men’s 110-meter hurdles.

For the USC women, senior Shalina Clarke will run in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, an event in which she currently holds the fastest time in the nation at 13.41 seconds.

Whatever the results, USC should have a much better idea of where it stands in the nation’s hierarchy of the best track programs in the country at the end of the weekend.

“Everything before this has led up to this,” Allice said. “It will be interesting to see where we stand when it’s over.”

The highlight for USC was junior Zsofia Erdelyi, who broke her own school record in the women’s 10,000-meter run on Friday night with a time of 33:18.75, finishing fourth among collegiate runners at a meet known for its high level of competition in the distance events.

“She turned a lot of heads out there,” said USC distance coach Tom Walsh. “She’s really worked hard this year after a sub par cross country season and came out with some fire this year.”

Erdelyi ran identical 5,000-meter splits, a tremendous feat in a race as long and grueling as the 10,000-meter.

“It was a very smart race for Zsofia,” Walsh said. “Stanford is the benchmark for distance running, and for her to run such an even, intelligent race was great to see.”

Sophomore Blake Shaw also ran a tremendous race for the USC men, finishing third among college runners with a new personal best of 3:45.66 in the 1500-meter run. The race continued Shaw’s surge up the USC all-time ranks in the event, moving him to sixth a week after jumping from ninth to seventh. Shaw also ran a solid 800-meter race, finishing 11th overall with a time of 1:51.51.

Despite the meet’s heavy concentration on distance, the USC women’s sprinters had a solid showing. Senior sprinter Judith Onyepunuka advanced to the finals in the women’s 100-meter dash with a new season-best 11.86, and finished fourth overall in the finals with an 11.89.

Senior Shalina Clarke only missed a first place finish in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.39, just .01 seconds behind winner Kimyon Broom of California. Also, senior Elizabeth Olear finished fourth for the Trojans in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 55.11.

Onyepunuka, Clarke, Olear and senior Myra Hasson teamed up for the women’s 4×100-meter race and placed third overall with a blistering 45.51.

Next up for USC are the Texas Relays, a meet that earlier this week USC coach Ron Allice said would feature “the most intense competition [the Trojans] have seen so far this season.”

]]>Members of the USC track and field team will head north this weekend to take on the competition at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.

The meet, which takes place over the course of two days, will be another chance for several Trojans to show what they can do against some of the best athletes in the country.

However, USC coach Ron Allice is having most of his short-distance runners stay in Southern California to rest for the upcoming Texas Relays on April 1-3.

“I don’t believe in over-racing people,” Allice said of his decision. “We’re trying to stay afloat here, and I don’t want to risk tiring some people out.”

Allice’s other reason for holding back sprinters like senior Ahmad Rashad is the fact that the Stanford Invitational is primarily a showcase for the best distance runners in the nation and focuses slightly less on the sprints and hurdles.

USC will still be represented by distance runners like sophomore Blake Shaw, who will compete in the men’s 1,500-meter race, and senior Nate Anderson, who will run in the 800-meter race.

On the women’s side, the 4×100-meter relay team — including senior Shalina Clarke, who will also run in the 100-meter hurdle race — will compete. Also competing in the event will be sophomore Dalilah Muhammad, who won the same event at this past weekend’s Trojan Invitational. Senior Elizabeth Olear rounds out the women’s sprinters going to Stanford and will run the 400-meter dash.

For the women’s distance squad, junior Zsofia Erdelyi will run in the women’s 10,000-meter race, looking to build off her first-place finish at the Trojan Invitational.

For most of the team, however, the focus remains on the Texas Invitational.

“It’s just too much running to risk sending them to Stanford,” Allice said. “They’ll face much more intense competition at Texas.”

]]>The USC track and field team hurdled over the competition at Saturday’s Trojan Invitational at Loker Stadium, the team’s only true home meet of the 2010 season.

The Trojans won all four hurdle races, giving them the top team marks both nationally and collegiately, in a performance that USC coach Ron Allice hopes is just the start of a season filled with record-setting efforts.

“The times we ran are certainly times we thought we were capable of,” Allice said. “We hope that it’s just the beginning and that we can keep improving into May and June.”

When asked if his hurdlers can do better, Allice without hesitation said, “Absolutely.”

They have tough marks to top. Junior Oscar Spurlock highlighted USC’s dominating showing with a victory in the men’s 110-meter high hurdles, posting a time of 13.83 that currently stands as the fastest in the world.

Not to be outdone, freshman standout Reggie Wyatt posted the best U.S. time and the seventh best in the world in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a 50.91, nearly a second and a half faster than the second place finisher.

The USC men weren’t the only group who posted nationally ranked times on Saturday. Senior hurdler Shalina Clarke won the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.69 seconds, slightly slower her nation-leading time of 13.41 set last week. Additionally, sophomore Dalilah Muhammad added her name to the world rankings with a 58.50 in the women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles, besting marquee Texas hurdler Angele Cooper.

The hurdlers were joined on Saturday by several other strong performers from USC’s other events. Senior sprinter Ahmad Rashad, the second place finisher in the men’s 100-meter dash at last year’s NCAA championships, won Saturday’s 100-meter with a time of 10.61, a mark all the more impressive considering the 1.5 meters per second headwind.

“That’s a pedestrian time for Ahmad, absolutely,” Allice said. “I was more impressed with the fact that he did everything technically correct. A win is a win, though.”

Rashad was also part of the men’s 4×100-meter relay team, which made its season debut Saturday without any signs of rust, winning with a time of 41.01 seconds.

The USC distance squad also made its presence known with a handful of fine races. Junior Zsofia Erdelyi won the women’s 3000-meter race with a personal best time of 9:27.96 in her first race of the 2010 season.

Also making his mark was sophomore Blake Shaw, who ran USC’s first ever sub four-minute mile during the indoor season. On Saturday Shaw ran a personal best 3:47.49 in the men’s 1500-meter, placing second in the race but moving him to seventh all time in Trojans history for the event.

Despite all the gaudy numbers, however, Allice says his team’s focus remains on the weeks ahead, specifically this weekend’s Stanford Invitational.

“Overall, I was pleased; I thought our people competed,” Allice said. “But I think people get too wrapped up in marks and times. At this stage in the game, we’re still focused on next week and also a month, two months from now.”

]]>Trojans have full schedule during breakhttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/03/10/trojans-have-full-schedule-during-break/
http://dailytrojan.com/2010/03/10/trojans-have-full-schedule-during-break/#commentsThu, 11 Mar 2010 07:28:16 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=11005Sophomore Blake Shaw runs his first race since running a mile in under four minutes.

]]>The USC track and field team will have plenty of ways to keep busy over spring break. With the Northridge Invitational beginning Friday and the Trojan Invitational the next week, the team will truly begin its outdoor season.

Busy break · Senior Nate Anderson and sophomore Joey Hughes and the USC track team will take part in two meets over spring break. - Daily Trojan file photo

“We’ve just been playing around with different combinations up until now,” USC coach Ron Allice said. “This week is when we absolutely go forward and say, ‘Let’s see how good we can be.’”

In addition to the two meets, USC will send some of its best performers to the NCAA indoor track & field championship in Fayetteville, Ark. Among the competitors will be senior Brendan Estrada, who won the men’s pole vault at the Washington Last Chance indoor meet at the University of Washington in Seattle by clearing a personal best 18.5 feet.

Also expected to compete will be sophomore Blake Shaw, who became the first Trojan to ever break the four-minute mark in the mile when he ran 3:59.85 at the Washington meet.

“What Blake did truly is a tremendous accomplishment,” Allice said. “To be the first in our program to run under four minutes is quite the feat.”

For the rest of the team, the Northridge Invitational on March 12 marks what Allice calls “the real start to the season.” And with the annual USC-UCLA dual meet to take place in Westwood on May 1, the Trojan Invitational on March 19 will be USC’s only true home meet of the season.

The meets will be the first real showcase for the top tier of USC’s talented group of athletes. Redshirt sophomore Bryshon Nellum, who missed all of last season because of an injury, will make his 2010 debut for the Trojans as a member of the 4×400-meter relay team. Also expected to run is star sprinter senior Ahmad Rashad, who has been held back in the early portion of the season.

“It’s going to be exciting to see where we’re at,” Allice said. “These meets should be very telling.”

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2010/03/10/trojans-have-full-schedule-during-break/feed/2USC opens season with confidencehttp://dailytrojan.com/2010/02/25/usc-opens-season-with-confidence/
http://dailytrojan.com/2010/02/25/usc-opens-season-with-confidence/#commentsFri, 26 Feb 2010 07:50:57 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=9875With the outdoor season set to begin, USC heads to the Claremont Relays this weekend.

That outdoor season begins Saturday when USC will compete in the Claremont Rossi Relays in Claremont, Calif., and begin its march toward what Allice hopes will be another top-10 season for the Trojans.

“Our goal is always to be in the top 10 programs in the country and finish higher than we did the previous year,” Allice said. “In addition, our expectation is always to win the UCLA dual meet.”

Entering his 16th year at the helm of the Trojans track team, Allice has plenty of reasons to believe his team will accomplish those goals in 2010. The team returns 14 All-Americans and 22 athletes already ranked in USC’s all-time top 10 for a variety of events.

Among those athletes is senior sprinter Ahmad Rashad, who finished second in the 100-meter dash at the NCAA championships with the fourth best time in Trojan history at 10.10 seconds. Sophomore Joey Hughes, who finished second in the 400-meter dash at both the Pac-10 championships and the NCAA West Regionals, joins Rashad at the core of USC’s talented group of sprinters.

On the women’s side, Dalilah Muhammad, who last year took third place in the 400 hurdles at the NCAA championships as a freshman, returns to lead USC’s women sprinters. Muhammad was also part of the 4×400-meter relay team that took sixth at the NCAA championships. That team returns all four members, including seniors Shalina Clarke, Elizabeth Olear and Myra Hasson.

However, sprints shouldn’t be the only strength for the 2010 Trojans. Allice has always prided himself on having a well-rounded team, as opposed to having what he calls “pockets” — a focus on one area of the team while the others get left behind.

“You cannot neglect any aspect of the program,” Allice said. “A lot of other schools have their ‘flag,’ like Washington and Oregon do with their distance runners. We’re going to have everything.”

USC’s field competitors also made splashes at last year’s marquee meets. Senior Manjula Wijesekara finished third in the high jump at the NCAA championships, while seniors Aaron Dan and Colin Campbell each emerged as two of the best discus throwers in the West region last season.

For the women, junior Zsofia Erdelyi, who holds the USC all-time records in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000 and 10,000-meter races, leads the distance squad. Junior Kristine Busa leads the women’s field athletes as the team’s best javelin thrower, finishing eighth at the NCAA championships last year and earning All-American status.

With a talented team like the one Allice has, it’s easy to get excited early. But the veteran director says the team understands that the season itself is a marathon, not a sprint.

“Everything is a stepping stone and progression towards the Dual Meet, the NCAA regionals, the NCAA finals and nationals,” Allice said. “We target from the middle of May until June. Everything else is a stepping stone towards being our best at that time in the season.”

]]>http://dailytrojan.com/2010/02/25/usc-opens-season-with-confidence/feed/1Women’s cross country team end season in disappointing fashionhttp://dailytrojan.com/2009/11/15/womens-cross-country-team-end-season-in-disappointing-fashion/
Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:38:57 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=5216The Women of Troy take a step back in the NCAA Regionals, their final meet of the year.

]]>The USC women’s cross country team’s roller coaster season came to a disappointing end at Saturday’s NCAA West Regional Championships in Springfield, Ore.

In a race dominated by Pac-10 heavyweights Washington and Oregon, the Women of Troy could not overcome a slow start, finishing 20th in a field of 25.

“It was very disappointing,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “We were prepared for what was going to happen. The top teams that were going to qualify were going to go out hard in the first few hundred meters and then slow the race down. They wanted the race to be as slow as possible because NCAA championships are in 9 days and they don’t want to expend as much energy.”

Perennial powerhouse Washington won the 6K race, finishing with 25 points to beat out Oregon, who scored 66 points. Stanford, Arizona, and Arizona State finished third through fifth, respectively, to ensure that the Pac-10 conference held the top five spots at the West Regionals.

USC’s lone chance for a representative at the NCAA Championships, junior Zsofia Erdelyi, started strong but faltered at the end to finish 28th overall, missing the cut to go run at nationals.

“She was playing catch up all year long,” Walsh said of Erdelyi. “But Zsofia realizes that with being sick and injured and being a month or six weeks behind everyone else, it’s hard to make up.”

Walsh was not making excuses for his team as a whole, however.

“We just didn’t get it done,” Walsh said. “It’s not like we didn’t know what to expect. They knew what they had to do. They just didn’t execute the way they were supposed to.”

After Erdelyi came junior Dina Kitayma, senior captain Bridget Helgerson, and freshman Christy Ambrosini, who replaced Christine Cortez because of Cortez’s shin injury. Walsh found some of Saturday’s few positives in the performances of Kitayama and Ambrosini.

“I thought our two newcomers ran very well,” Walsh said. “Dina and Christy both ran very well, especially considering how few collegiate races they’ve run. So we did have a few bright spots, but other than that, it was a rough day for us.”

Despite the sudden drop off in performance from the Pac-10 Championships to Saturday’s West regional, Walsh insists the problem was tactical, not physical.

“You don’t run as well as we did at Pac-10’s and all of a sudden get out of shape in less than two weeks,” Walsh said. “I don’t think we over-trained or over-raced them because we ran really well at Pac-10’s as a group. But in this race, everyone except for Zsofia went out 25 to 30 seconds slower than they did at Pac-10’s.

“If you get stuck in the back and the pace is as slow as it was Saturday, then you’re dead,” Walsh said.

]]>USC gets a chance to prove itselfhttp://dailytrojan.com/2009/11/12/usc-gets-a-chance-to-prove-itself/
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:30:16 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=5100The USC women’s cross country team looks to respond at the final meet of the season.

]]>For most of the USC women’s cross country team, Saturday’s NCAA West Regional meet in Springfield, Ore., will be the last race of the 2009 season.

It also serves as a chance to show that the Women of Troy’s ninth-place finish at the Pac-10 Championship was not indicative of the team’s potential.

“This is a great chance for us to build off of Pac-10s,” USC coach Tom Walsh said. “It’s one last chance to get a real important race in.”

Although only one of USC’s runners, junior Zsofia Erdelyi, appears on track to qualify for the NCAA Championships, Walsh insists that the West Regionals are just as important for the other members of the team, especially underclassmen.

“This is great experience for the rest of the girls,” Walsh said. “They will learn so much and their improvement curve will be much better after they run this race. Looking ahead to the future, we have a lot of freshmen that are starting out at a high point and are going to be productive in our program for the next four years.”

The race also holds a bit of extra importance for four of USC’s eight competing runners. Senior captain Bridget Helgerson is a native of Portland, Ore., and freshman Kathleen Moloney, senior Katherine Ellis, and junior Zara Lukens all hail from Washington.

“This is basically a homecoming for half of our team,” Walsh said. “I think it’ll be a boost to these four girls to be back in familiar territory.”

On the course, however, Saturday’s race holds the greatest significance for Erdelyi, who is looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year. The junior standout from Hungary is coming off a slightly subpar race at the Pac-10 Championships.

But Walsh says he is not worried about Erdelyi’s chances to compete at NCAAs.

“Every year she’s finished higher at regionals than she has at Pac-10s,” Walsh said. “We’re hoping that is something she continues. I have faith that she will.”

Last season, Erdelyi finished 17th overall at Pac-10 Championships, then rebounded to finish eighth overall at West Regionals two weeks later. Walsh estimated that Erdelyi would have to finish somewhere in the top 20 overall at this year’s meet in order to qualify for nationals.

Rounding out USC’s competitors on Saturday are juniors Christine Cortez and Dina Kitayama, along with freshman Christy Ambrosini, who will be an alternate.

The women’s 6K race will begin on Saturday at 10:45 a.m. at Springfield Golf Course.

]]>Women’s cross country team finds silver lining in 9th place finishhttp://dailytrojan.com/2009/11/01/womens-cross-country-team-finds-silver-lining-in-9th-place-finish/
Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:01:56 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=4510Despite placing next-to-last at the Pac-10 Championships, the Women of Troy run their best race as individuals.

]]>On paper, the USC women’s cross country team’s 9th place finish at the Pac-10 Championships on Friday did not reflect the effort the team has put into the season.

However, all nine USC runners had their best race of the season, and coach Tom Walsh said it’s hard to be upset.

“Really I can’t complain,” Walsh said. “I’m very proud of these girls.”

Walsh noted the discrepancy between USC’s number of scholarship runners and the rest of the stacked Pack-10 conference.

“When you have one scholarship runner on your roster and you’re competing against everyone who’s got five or six, it’s like taking a pocketknife into a gunfight,” Walsh said. “And we held our own.”

Defending Pac-10 champion Washington won the 6K race, which took place at Sky Links golf course in Long Beach on Friday. Oregon finished 2nd, followed by Arizona State, Stanford, California, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon State and host USC. Washington State finished last.

For the Women of Troy, junior Zsofia Erdelyi once again led the way, finishing 22nd overall. Junior Christine Cortez was 60th overall, followed by freshman Kathleen Moloney, who ran in her first ever conference championship.

“I was really impressed with Zara and Kathleen,” Walsh said. “Those two really came up huge and ran well for us. Both of them ran the best race of their life by a lot.”

Although most of the girls had career-high performances, Walsh noted that they still were not satisfied.

“They weren’t happy with the 9th place finish,” Walsh said. “However, they were happy with their effort. A lot of them came up to me afterward and told me they left it all out on the course. To me, that’s all you can ask.”

As for Erdelyi, USC’s most talented runner, Walsh said that she is hitting her stride just in time for NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 14.

“She’s falling off later and later in the race as the season goes on,” Walsh said of Erdelyi. “She competed really hard on Friday. She’s almost where she needs to be.”

Despite the results, the Women of Troy still had much to be proud of. As the host of the Pac-10 Championships, USC had a strong showing of support in Long Beach.

“We had close to 700 people show up at this meet,” Walsh said. “It was a really well-run meet. The other schools were really impressed with the course. There were very few complaints at all.”

]]>USC women’s cross country team finally healthy heading into Pac-10 Championshipshttp://dailytrojan.com/2009/10/29/usc-womens-cross-country-team-finally-healthy-heading-into-pac-10-championships/
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:46:37 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=4465The Women of Troy have battled injuries sickness throughout the year, but are at full-strength entering the biggest meet of the year.

]]>The USC women’s cross country team has spent much of the season trying to recover from the flu and injury.

The week when all of the Women of Troy’s top runners are finally healthy could not have come at a better time.

“From the beginning of August until the end of last week, we had someone sick or hurt every single week,” said USC coach Tom Walsh. “I’m glad it’s behind us now.”

Finally armed with what Walsh believes are its strongest nine runners, USC will host the Pac-10 Conference Championships for the first time since 1999 on Friday at Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach, Calif. And although USC will face daunting competition, Walsh believes the home-course advantage will benefit the team.

“Since we’re hosting it, we got to put the course together,” he said. “It will be a very flat, very fast course. I think we’ll do really well on it.”

“I want to be really competitive,” he said. “It’s a stretch for us to be in the top five. But if we can be as competitive as possible and beat our rival UCLA and finish somewhere in the middle of the pack, then that would be an outstanding performance by these girls.”

The Women of Troy include a few standouts, like junior Zsofia Erdelyi, as well as a few surprise runners, like junior Dina Kitayama, who used strong October surges to vault into contention for USC’s Pac-10 squad. Walsh said choosing the runners who would fill out the last few roster spots proved to be a difficult decision.

“There were five people competing for the last two spots who I could have realistically chosen,” Walsh said. “I went with my gut and who I think will respond to pressure and run the best on that day.”

Rounding out USC’s team are senior captain Bridget Helgerson, junior Christine Cortez, senior Katherine Ellis, junior Zara Lukens, sophomore Leah Gaeta, and freshmen Kathleen Moloney and Kelly Owen. Walsh said all nine girls have had strong practices in the weeks leading up to Friday’s meet.

“It reminds me of last year,” Walsh said. “This time last year is when we really started to practice well and ended up having a breakout race [at Bakersfield]. We’ve had those types of practices leading up to this meet, so I’m hoping it carries over.”

The Pac-10 men’s and women’s Cross Country Championships will be Friday, with the men running at 3 p.m., and the women at 4 p.m.

]]>Despite battling the flu and the heat, the USC women’s cross country team has second-place finishhttp://dailytrojan.com/2009/10/18/despite-battling-the-flu-and-the-heat-the-usc-womens-cross-country-team-has-second-place-finish/
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:37:00 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=3874Coach Tom Walsh was pleased with his team's performance overall and was impressed with individuals as they gear up for nationals.

]]>With temperatures approaching 100 degrees in the San Fernando Valley on Friday, the USC Women’s Cross Country team did not wilt in the heat at the Cal State Northridge Invitational.

The Women of Troy turned in their second consecutive strong performance, finishing 2nd overall to Cal State Fullerton in a race shortened from a 6K to a 5K due to scorching temperatures in Van Nuys.

The temperature at race time was 98 degrees with 16 percent humidity. Coach Tom Walsh said he agreed with the decision to shorten the race.

“It was the right way to go,” Walsh said. “With the intense heat, you don’t want to take a chance with the health of the athletes. It wasn’t worth it.”

Even in the heat, USC fulfilled Walsh’s expectations. Several runners turned in solid performances, including freshman Theresa Kurth, who was USC’s fourth runner on Friday. Junior Zsofia Erdelyi finished 3rd overall to lead the Women of Troy, despite suffering from a flu bug which has plagued her and the team for most of the season.

“The fact that she is still sick has me very concerned,” Walsh said of his star runner. “I thought the flu had moved through but the fact that it is still here means we’ll have to keep monitoring our health and make sure we avoid really getting sick.”

Junior Christine Cortez continued to look like USC’s second-in-command runner, finishing 13th overall, and senior captain Bridget Helgerson was right behind her, finishing 16th. Kurth was 4th for USC, and rounding out the top 5 was junior Zara Lukens, who was 20th overall. Walsh was especially pleased with how the team ran as a collective group.

“We finally put together a really strong start to the race,” Walsh said. “They were very aggressive. They ran their fastest first miles of the season. If we can combine the first half of this Northridge race with the second half of the Vanguard meet, we’ll be in great shape.”

With Pac-10 Championships less than two weeks away, Walsh says that Friday’s meet made it much more complicated for him to choose his final roster.

“Some of the performances on Friday have made things a bit difficult,” Walsh said. “I was really impressed with Theresa Kurth and a few others who I didn’t expect to be up there.”

Walsh said he expects to pick which runners he will take the Pac-10’s later this week, and send those who are not running to Friday’s Cal State Fullerton Invitational. With his team performing at a high level, though, Walsh says health, not performance, is his biggest concern heading into the season’s homestretch.

“The pieces are there for a strong showing at Pac-10’s,” Walsh said. “It’s just this flu bug that we’ve got to get over. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

]]>Women of Troy find their spark in first win of the seasonhttp://dailytrojan.com/2009/10/11/women-of-troy-find-their-spark-in-first-win-of-the-season/
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:03:43 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=3408The USC women's cross country team takes first at the Vanguard Invitational behind strong performances.

]]>If the USC women’s cross country team was looking for a burst of momentum heading into the last month of the season, it found it Saturday at the Vanguard Invitational in Costa Mesa, Calif.

The Women of Troy had by far their best race as a team thus far this season, winning the meet with a season-best 47 points, 27 better than second-place Orange Coast College. Rounding out the top-10 team finishers were Concordia, Point Loma, host Vanguard, Cal State Los Angeles, Westmont, Cal State Fullerton, Loyola Marymount and the Master’s College.

The win was the first for the Women of Troy this season.

With the looming Pac-10 Championships and with a disappointing finish at the Stanford Invitational still in their minds, USC desperately needed a breakout team performance. The Women of Troy did not disappoint. USC’s five scoring runners finished with an average 5K time of 18:23.80, and the top seven runners all finished in the top-20 overall.

Erdelyi’s performance was especially impressive. The junior had battled injuries and the flu before and during the season before Saturday’s strong fourth place finish.

Helgerson, too, experienced a slow start to the season due to injuries and slightly sub-par performances. The team captain came back in a big way Saturday, finishing with a time of 18:33, averaging just less than six minutes per mile.

Next up for the Women of Troy is the 6K Cal State Northridge Invitational on Oct. 16. The Women of Troy will look to build on Saturday’s strong performance and begin the drive towards the team’s ultimate goal: the Pac-10 Championships in Long Beach on Oct. 30.

]]>The USC women’s cross country team is searching for a spark, which it will try to find it this weekend at the Vanguard Invitational in Costa Mesa.

Two weeks after the Women of Troy did not live up to expectations at the competitive Stanford Invitational, USC is hoping that the recently scheduled Vanguard meet will give the team momentum with the Pac-10 championships only three weeks away.

“I’m waiting for this team to break out,” said coach Tom Walsh. “We’ve been training very well and it just hasn’t shown in races. But we’ve been doing some really good things the past few weeks and hopefully they will show on Saturday.”

Originally, Walsh did not plan on having his team race in between Stanford and the Cal State Northridge Meet on Oct. 16. However, after a slew of injuries and illnesses to begin the season, Walsh felt the team needed an extra tune-up before the homestretch.

“I added this meet because we have had people that are behind schedule as far as the season is concerned,” Walsh said. “I also did it because we have so many young people on the team. They need more experience at the college level.”

One of the runners affected by injury at the beginning of the season was junior Zsofia Erdelyi, who two weeks ago rebounded to finish 13th overall at Stanford. Erdelyi’s coach expects even more from her this Saturday.

“I’d like to see Zsofia win the race,” Walsh said. “She was behind schedule because of her foot injury and a late track season. But I’m happy with her progress. An extra race will be very good for her.”

Captain Bridget Helgerson did not have quite the race Erdelyi had at Stanford, but improved after a rocky start to her season. Walsh said he expects Helgerson to keep getting better as the season progresses.

“Bridget is looking really good,” Walsh said. “Before Stanford she really started to turn it around. Her training has really picked up, and I’m looking forward to a good race from her.”

As with the week before Stanford, the Women of Troy all saw their training pick up with the bye week. Without a Saturday race to curb hard workouts, Walsh increased the intensity.

“We trained even harder than we did before Stanford,” Walsh said. “They’ve responded well to the intensity. The Stanford meet was a wake-up call for us. We didn’t perform the way we could have or should have, but the will to be successful is definitely there.”

While arguably the team’s most competitive meet is out of the way, Walsh insists that the most important ones are yet to come.

“[Vanguard] is not quite Pac-10 level,” Walsh admitted. “But we need to somehow get a win at this meet. We need something to get going for the rest of the season. I’m hoping we win this meet. Just being competitive won’t satisfy me, or the girls.”

]]>Women of Troy are disappointed with middle-of-the-pack finishhttp://dailytrojan.com/2009/09/27/women-of-troy-are-disappointed-with-middle-of-the-pack-finish/
Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:24:47 +0000http://dailytrojan.com/?p=2563The USC women's cross country team places 11th out of 22 at the Stanford Invitational despite the return of Zsofia Erdelyi.

]]>For the USC Women’s Cross Country team, Saturday’s Stanford Invitational marked the most important meet of the season thus far. However, the Women of Troy did not quite perform up to the moment.

USC finished 11th in a field of 22 in the 6K race, below the team’s and coach Tom Walsh’s expectations.

Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

“Overall I don’t think it was our best effort,” Walsh admitted. “We just didn’t have a good day. We’re not racing up to the way we’re training.”

The race took place in the middle of a scorching 90-degree day in Palo Alto, making personal-bests hard to come by. Walsh made no excuses, however.

“It wasn’t just hot for [us],” Walsh said. “It was 90 degrees for everybody. We just need to do a better job in the middle of the race [by] being tougher mentally and we’ll be fine.”

One of the positives that emerged from Saturday’s race was the return of junior Zsofia Erdelyi, who missed USC’s first two races with a foot injury. Erdelyi, who qualified for the NCAA Championships last season, picked up where she left off in 2008 by finishing 13th overall despite not racing at 100 percent.

“She still wasn’t happy because she doesn’t like getting beat by runners who she knows she’s better than,” Walsh said of Erdelyi.

The coach also said he was proud of the effort Erdelyi gave despite her injury problems.

“Sometimes when runners aren’t in great shape, they don’t give 100 percent effort because they know they’re not going to have a great result,” Walsh said. “I was very happy that she didn’t give up.”

Other than Erdelyi, however, the rest of the Women of Troy did not match up with the vastly improved competition present at the Stanford Invite. The No. 5 Stanford Cardinal scored a meet-best 24 points, followed by Cal (100 points) and Loyola Marymount (143). Seven other schools followed before USC, which finished with 332 points.

“[The race] was definitely a test to see where we were at,” Walsh said. “We need to get more experienced. That experience sometimes kicks in during the middle of the season, but it would be great for us if it comes at the end, because that’s when we need it the most.”

Rounding out the rest of USC’s top five runners were Mt. San Antonio transfer Christine Cortez, senior captain Bridget Helgerson, and fellow freshmen Kathleen Moloney and Kelly Owen. Walsh also found a silver lining in the performances of his first-year runners.

“I think the freshman are making progress,” Walsh said. “They’re improving and getting better each week. They’ll definitely help us at the end of this season and certainly in future seasons.”

Although the rest of USC’s performance was not outstanding, Walsh is not concerned with how the team races in September.

“We’re not where we want to be yet, but our goal is to peak at the end of the season,” he said of his team. “As a coach, I’m trying to make sure they run their best races at Pac-10 [meets] and regional’s. We still have five or six weeks to go. We have work to do.”

]]>For the USC women’s cross country team, the most important day of the season thus far has arrived. On Saturday, the Women of Troy will compete in the Stanford Invitational, the race that coach Tom Walsh has pointed to multiple times as the crux of the cross country campaign.

“This is our first big test of the year,” Walsh said. “The first two meets [at Fullerton and Irvine] were just to see where we were at.”

High hopes · With the return of the USC women’s cross country team’s star runner Zsofia Erdelyi, the Women of Troy expect much better results at the Stanford Invitational than at their first two competitions. - Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

The main reason that Saturday will be a test for USC is the presence of several top-notch programs. Host Stanford is ranked No. 5 in the nation entering the invitational, and teams from UC Davis, Loyola Marymount and Sacramento State all represent regionally ranked teams from the West.

“At Stanford it’s a much higher-level meet,” Walsh said. “In addition to great teams from California we’ll see a lot of great out-of-state girls who can really run. It’s a good chance for our girls to test themselves out.”

Walsh also noted that with the rise in competition comes the need for USC to rise to the challenge.

“I expect for the level at which we race to be much higher than it was the past two races,” he said. “Much higher.”

Part of that expectation stems from the return of standout junior Zsofia Erdelyi, who missed USC’s first two races with a foot injury. Erdelyi, who last year qualified for the NCAA Championships, adds star power to a consistently strong USC squad in need of a top-five quality runner.

“[Zsofia’s return] will be very positive because she’s the heart and soul of our team,” Walsh said. “Obviously she won’t be at 100 percent for this meet, but she’s so talented that she could be as high as fifth or sixth in this race and it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Walsh’s confidence would appear to be well placed. The course that the Women of Troy will run Saturday is the same course that Erdelyi ran last year to finish in the top 10 in regionals and qualify for nationals.

Erdelyi isn’t the only runner whom Walsh expects to make a comeback on Saturday. Team captain Bridget Helgerson, who had what Walsh called a “poor” race at Irvine two weeks ago, is looking to restore her status as one of USC’s top three runners.

“Last week was definitely a wake-up call for Bridget,” Walsh said. “She’s lucky she got her bad race out of the way. It’s really motivated her to train better and work hard during these past two weeks. I’m expecting her to bounce back.”

Walsh expects the two-week race layoff to benefit not just Helgerson, but the entire team.

“When you have a meet on Saturday, you don’t push as hard at the end of the week because you want the girls’ legs to be fresh. So this week off allowed us to do some intense training. I’m excited to see where we’re at,” Walsh said.

USC will see exactly where it is at when the gun goes off at 11 a.m. in Palo Alto on Saturday.

]]>Fresh off an impressive, freshman-led showing at Cal State Fullerton, the USC women’s cross country team returns to action Saturday at the UC Irvine Invitational 5K with reason to expect success.

Team captain senior Bridget Helgerso, will return to run for the Women of Troy, just one of several veteran runners who did not race at Fullerton competing for the first time this season. USC coach Tom Walsh believes the return of more experienced runners will boost the Women of Troy’s performance.

Ready to run · Back in action for the Women of Troy is senior captain Bridget Helgerson, who looks to help USC improve on last week’s times. - Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

“We’re going to see where our veterans are at right now,” Walsh said. “We had a great grouping in terms of our one through five runners last Saturday. We’re hoping for the same this Saturday but at a higher level and with faster times.”

There are still a few key absences, however. Standout junior Szofia Erdelyi will not race on Saturday because of plantar fasciitis (a painful inflammation on the sole of the foot) listed as the cause. Expected top-five runner Shea Wickland will also miss the Irvine 5K to rest an injured knee. Additionally, freshman Christy Ambrosini, who last week finished as USC’s top runner at Fullerton, will not race as the result of back and hip injuries.

“We are off to a bit of a slow start because of some freak injuries,” Walsh said. “But I’m confident that both Szofia and Shea will join us at the Stanford invite in a couple weeks, unless anything unexpected comes up.”

Injuries or no injuries, Irvine should be a tough test for the Women of Troy. Several strong competitors will toe the line alongside USC on Saturday, including host UC Irvine as well as strongholds like UC San Diego, Pepperdine, Fresno State and Cal State Northridge.

“This will definitely be an upgrade in competition,” Walsh said. “Last week was a good start for us, but this week will certainly be a notch up from that. It’ll be an indicator of where our girls are at this year, especially the ones who haven’t raced yet.”

Irvine’s tougher competition should provide a stepping stone for USC, who plan to run what could be their toughest meet in two weeks at Stanford. However, as Walsh has noted in the past, USC is used to facing tough foes in the Pac-10. As a result, the mood remains optimistic for the Women of Troy.

“I’m greatly looking forward to seeing how we match up against some of the better schools.” Walsh said. “It can only make us stronger.”